Ordinary day (Maybe)
by DeadGirlEtarnal
Summary: What if you could look back at what you've done before. Well Claire and the gang get to see and claire doesn't seem to like it. And something is not looking too good for Claire and the gang when some new people arrive in town and some deep secrets come up from the surface and it's not all too happy go lucky for little Claire. Also all the books u like.
1. Something weird

_**Book: Glass House Chapter one**_

_**Chapter one **_

_**Claire's pov: **_

_It's been years since I first ended up in Morganville a small dusty town run by vampires, I couldn't believe my luck I ended up with a hot sexy boyfriend (Shane Collins) and gothic funny best friend (Eve Rosser) and a vampire Landlord and friend (Michael Glass) I live in the same house as them… huh what was that. _

I walk off out of the sofa in the living room and I got to the front door and see a parcel has been delivered but that was weird because no post was meant to come today. I open the front door and found no one I looked around the area but no one. "Huh that's strange, I wonder who could have given this?" I shut the door and looked at the parcel on the floor and picked it up and it said it was addressed to me I dropped it like I had burnt me and then my best friend Eve came in the hallway from the kitchen with a annoyed Shane on her tail and she saw my shocked face and she looked down at the parcel and picked it up.

"So who gave you this, I didn't think we had post today?" Eve looked at me again and looked down at the parcel and she handed it to me. "Open it" she smiled but I knew that she was demanding me to she was always doing that. I accepted it and opened it to see a book I looked at the front cover saying Glass house and I looked up at the others hoping I wasn't imagining this all up and Shane came over to me and picked the book out of my hands.

"What's this a book, what's it about?" he asked like I would know I shrugged my shoulders and I took it from him again and I flipped to the first page and saw that I was about me and the others I couldn't believe it. I heard voices but I wasn't listening to them I was in my own little world this was a book about my past and my friends it was weird but it seemed it was based through my eyes then someone tapped me on the shoulder and it was Shane and I looked at him. "Claire are you ok?" he asked me I tried my hardest to sound normal. "yeah I fine really" it didn't seem to work because he tipped my chin up to look him in the eyes and my knees went weak the way he was looking at me I thought if he lets go I'm going to fall. "What was the book about?" I knew he wasn't going to let it go so I knew what I was going to have to do. "It's about us and when I first arrived here."

It must of spooked them because I heard Eve gasp and then I heard footsteps coming up the walk way and I knew it was Michael and I just wanted to curl up in a corner and cry all of my past wasn't that bright but this was not good. The door opened and Michael came in and I handed him the book he looked at it and then looked at me with shock on his face. "What should we do Mike" Shane asked I knew what I wanted but it wasn't up to me we were a team and we had to made team decisions. "I say we read it if that's ok with you guys?" they nodded and they went into the living room I was stuck on the spot what if that book at some things I thought of when I first met them I didn't want them hating me or laughing at me but I knew it was all going to come out at some point and I knew it would seem weird to see what I though back then.

I walked back into the living room to the other with Michael in his chair and Eve and Shane on the sofa I sat down in between them and snuggled in Shane he put his arm around me and Michael started to read.

"**Chapter one. **

**On the day Claire became a member of the Glass House, somebody stole her laundry."**

"That's bad luck did you have to walk around naked?" Shane said smiling I was still in shock and just shock my head he looked disappointed at this and Michael kept reading.

"**When she reached into the crappy, beat-up washing machine, she found nothing but the wet slick sides of the drum and – like a bad joke – the worst pair of underwear she owned, plus one sock. She was in a hurry, of course – there were only a couple of machines on this top floor of Howard Hall, the least valued, most run-down rooms in the least valued, most run-down dorm. Two washing machines, two dryers, and you were lucky if one of them was working on any given day and didn't eat your quarters. Forget about the dollar-bill slot. She's never seen it work, not in the last six weeks since she's arrived at school. **

'**No' she said out loud, and balanced herself on the edge of the washer to look down into the dark, partly rusted interior. It smelt like mould and cheap detergent. Getting a closer look didn't help. **

**One crappy pair of underwear, fraying at the seams. One sock."**

"Poor CB that bitch Monica did it" Eve said using the nickname she gave me (Claire Bear) I still seemed to be in shock but I managed to make a sentence. "Just listen to it Eve it'll tell you everything that happened". She looked at me and she noticed I seemed down and she hugged me I hugged her back. "Can I keep reading?" Michael seemed to really want to read and we all nodded.

"**She was missing every piece of clothing that she'd worn in the last two weeks. Every piece that she actually **_**wanted **_**to wear. 'No' she yelled it into the washer, where it echoed back at her, and slumped back down, then kicked the washer violently in the dent made by all the other disappointed students before her. She couldn't breathe. She had some other clothes – a few – but they were **_**last choice **_**clothes, oh-my-God-wouldn't-be-caught-dead clothes. Pants that were too short and made her look like a hick, shirts that were too big and too stupid, and made her look lie her mom had picked them out. And she had."**

The other laughed but I didn't find anything funny but I was too pissed at what this book was revealing about what happened. Michael continued reading after they'd stopped laughing.

"**Claire had about three hundred dollars left to last her for, well months, after the latest round calling out for pizza and buying yet **_**another **_**book for Professor Clueless Euliss, who didn't seem to have figured out yet what subject he was teaching. **

**She supposed she could find some clothes, if she looked around that wouldn't totally blow her entire budget. After all, downtown Morganville, Texas was the thrift shop capital of the world. Assuming she could find **_**anything **_**she could stand to wear. **

_**Mom said this would happen, **_**she thought**_**. I just have to think. Keep cool. **_

**Claire threw herself into an orange plastic chair, dumped her backpack on the scratched linoleum, and put her head in her hands. Her face felt hot, and she was shaking, and she knew, just knew, that she was going to cry. Cry like the baby they all said she was, too young to be here, too young to be away from mummy. **

**It sucked to be smart, because this was where it got you. **

**She gulped deep, damp breaths and sat back, willing herself not to bawl (because they'd hear) and wondered if she could call Mom and Dad for an extension on her allowance, or use the credit card that was 'just for emergencies'. **

**Then she saw the note. Not so much 'note' as graffiti, but it was addressed to her, on the painted cinderblock wall above the machines. **

_**Dear Dork, **_**it read,**_** we found trash in the machines and threw it down the chute. If you want it, dive for it. **_

'**Shit' she breathed, and had to blink back tears again, for an entirely different reason. Blind, stupid rage. **_**Monica**_**. Well, Monica and the Monickettes, anyway. Why was it the hot mean girls always ran in packs, like hyenas? And why, with all the shimmery hair and long tanned legs and more Daddy's money than Daddy's accountants, did they have focus on **_**her?**_

**No, she knew the answer to that. **

**She'd made Monica look stupid in front of her friends, and some hot upperclassmen. Not that it had been all that hard; she'd just been walking by, heard Monica saying that World War II had been 'that dumbass Chinese war thing'. **

**And by simple reflex she'd said 'it wasn't.' the whole lot of them, slouched all over the couches in the dorm lobby, looked at her with as much blank surprise as if the Coke machine had just spoken up. Monica, her friends, three of the cool older frat boys. **

'**World war II' Claire had plunged on, panicked and quite sure how to get out what she's got herself into. 'I just meant – well, it wasn't the Korean War. That was later. World War II was with the Germans and the Japanese. You know Pearl Harbour?'**

**And the guys had looked at Monica and laughed, and Monica had flushed – not much, but enough to ruin the cool perfection of her make-up. 'Remind me not to buy any history papers off of you' the cutest of the guys had said. 'What kind of dumbass doesn't know that?' though Claire had been sure none of them had, really 'Chinese's. Riiiiight.' **

**Claire had seen the fury in Monica's eyes, quickly covered over with smiles and laughter and flirting. Claire had ceased to exist again, for the guys.**

**For the girls, she was brand-new, and unwelcome as hell. She's been dealing with it all her life. Smart and small and average-looking wasn't exactly winning the life lottery; you had to fight for it, whatever **_**it**_** was. Somebody was always laughing at, or hitting, or ignoring you, or a combination of the first two. She's though when she was a kid that getting laughed at was the worst thing, and then – after the first couple of school-year showdowns – getting hit jumped up to number one. But for most her (brief two-year) high school experience, being ignored was worse by far. She'd got there a year earlier than everybody else, and left a year ahead of them. Nobody liked that. **

**Nobody but teachers, anyway. **

**The problem was that Claire really **_**loved**_** school.'**

Eve laughed but I wasn't really in the mood for her mood I was scared and she was happy and Shane just hugged me and I fell asleep in his arms. I woke up later when they were nearly finished the chapter _man what had I missed?_

'**Yeah' she said, managed a shaky laugh. 'Guess I tripped'. **

'**You need to go to the quack shack?' which was collage code for the university clinic. 'Or, God, an ambulance or whatever?' 'No. no, I'm ok.' Wishful thinking but although basically everything in her body hurt like hell, nothing felt like it had broken into pieces. Claire got her feet, winced at a sore ankle, and picked up her backpack. Notebook tumbled out. Erica grabbed a couple and jammed them back in, then ran up a few steps to gather the scattered textbooks. 'Damn, Claire, do you really need all this crap? How many classes do you have in a day?'**

'**Six' **

'**You're nuts.' Erica, good deed done, reverted to the neutrality that all the non-cool girls in the dorm had shown her so far. 'Better get to the quack shack, seriously. You look like crap.' **

**Claire pasted on a smile and kept it there until Erica got to the top of the stairs and started complaining about the broken lock in her dorm room. **

_**Tonight**_**, Monica had leant over and whispered. **_**You'll get what's coming to you, you freak**_**. She hadn't called anybody, or tried to find out if Claire had broken her neck. She didn't care if Claire died. **

**No, that was wrong. The problem was, she**_** did**_** care. Claire tasted blood. Her lip was split, and it was bleeding. She wiped at the mess with the back of her hand, then the hem of her t-shirt before realising that it was literally the only thing she had to wear**_**. I need to go down to the basement and get my clothes out of the trash**_**. The idea of going down there – going anywhere alone in this dorm – suddenly terrified her. Monica was waiting. And the other girls wouldn't do anything. Even Erica, who was probably the nicest one in the whole place, was scared to come right out on her side. Hell Erica got hassled, too, but she was probably just glad that Claire was there to get the worst of it. This wasn't just as bad as high school, where she'd been treated with contempt and casual cruelty – this was worse, a lot worse. And she didn't even have any friends here. Erica was about the best she's been able to come up with, and Erica was more concerned about her broken door then Claire's broken head.' **

Everyone looked at me and I just shrugged, Shane pulled me into a big hug and Eve hugged my side and Michael just gave me one of his sweet smiles and I knew I had friends unlike when I first got here. 'Go on Mike keep on going its ok.' I said not really meaning half of it. ' Are you sure?' he asked me looking concerned but I just nodded.

'**She was alone. And if she hadn't been before, she was scared now. Really, really scared. What she'd seen in the Monica Mafia's eyes today wasn't just the usual lazy menace of cool girls versus the geeks; this was worse. She'd got casual shoves or pinches before, trips, mean laughter, but this was more like lions coming in for the kill. **

_**They're going to kill me. **_

**She started shakily down the flights of stairs, every step a wincing pain through her body, and remembered that she'd slapped Monica hard enough to leave a mark. **

_**Yeah. They're going to kill me. **_

**If Monica ended up with a bruise on that perfect face, there wasn't any question about it. **

We all got up as Michael closed the book and put it on the coffee table in the middle of the room. I wanted to take that book and throw it into the trash but I knew I'd get found out I just well had to face what I'd thought back then.

We all walk upstairs to our room Eve and Michael to their room and me and Shane to ours we shared a room now because well it made sense and I got out of my clothes and walked to the bed and got under the bed and Shane soon followed and we wrapped each other's arms around each other and soon fell asleep.

_**End of chapter one**_


	2. Secret uncovered

_**Book: Glass house Chapter two**_

_**Chapter two **_

_**Eve's pov: **_

_It was weird the dream I'd had last night it was about Claire and when I first met her and what she must of gone through and I'd heard it last night I just wish she hadn't said she'd tripped to that girl but well she did give a good slap to Monica and everything since Claire turned up here as worked out for her and well it makes you think… huh must be the toast. I couldn't believe how much Claire has changed since then. What's that?_

I walked out of the kitchen with my toast from the toaster and into the hallway with Claire walking up the stairs with the book in hand – today she was wearing something amazing for her different looks but it worked and it looked better than my gothic look _**[can see on profile for all outfits for today]**_ – and I clear my throat and she turns around to see me and I look into her eyes and I remember she didn't look too happy about this.

"Claire what are you doing with the book?" I asked her.

"I was going to put it into the bin I don't like the idea of you guys hearing what I had though back then, sorry about that I'll put it back" she replied to me and I knew she felt sorry and she turned back around into the kitchen and as she went back out Michael and Shane came running down and past her into the living room and I looked in with Claire behind me and Shane had the book in hand.

"Girls hurry up we're reading the book" Shane shouted even though we were only in the hallway. I saw Claire's face she didn't like it but I know Claire she'll pull through, she was the new Claire after everything that happened over the small time she's been here. We walked into the living room with Michael in his usual chair and me and Claire sat on the sofa and Claire looked nervous and I hugged her for support she looked at me and she hugged me back and the boys gave a _what's up with them _look but that was fine.

"Let's begin" Shane said with a smile in his eyes.

"**Erica was right about the quack shack being the logical first steps; Claire got her ankle wrapped, an ice pack and some frowns over the forming bruises. Nothing broken, but she was going to be black-and-blue for days. The doctor asked some pro forma questions about boyfriends and stuff, but since she could truthfully say that no, her boyfriend hadn't beaten her up; he just shrugged and told her to watch her step. **

**Wrote her an excuse note, too, and gave her some painkillers and told her to go home. **

**No way was she going back to the dorm. Truth was, she didn't have much in the room – some books, a few photos of home, some posters… she hadn't even had a chance to call it home, and for whatever reason, she'd never really felt safe there. It had always felt like… a warehouse. A warehouse for kids who were, one way or another, going to leave. **

**She limped over to the Quad, which was big empty concrete space with some rickety old benches and picnic tables, cornered on all sides by squat, unappealing buildings that mostly just looked like boxes with windows. Architecture-student projects, probably. She heard rumours that one of them had fallen down a few years back but then, she'd also heard rumours about a janitor getting beheaded in the chem lab and haunting the building, and zombies roaming around the grounds after dark, so she wasn't putting too much stock in it. **

**It was mid-afternoon already, and not a lot of students were hanging around the Quad, with its lack of shade – great design, considering that the weather was still hovering up in the high nineties in September. Claire picked up a campus paper from the stand, carefully took a seat on the blazing-hot bench, and opened it to the 'Housing' section."**

_So this was where Claire had found our humble home after all that I'd wondered where she's found us, I mean where else I guess but what you would think from Claire._

"_**Stupid rules were probably written when girls wore hoop-skirts, **_**she thought, and skipped the dorm listings until she got OFF CAMPUS. Not that she was really allowed to be living off campus; Mom and Dad would have a total freak-out over it, no questions. But… if it was between Monica and parental freakage, she'd take the latter. After all, the important thing was to get herself someplace where she felt safe, where she could study.**

**Right?**

**She dug in her backpack, found her cell phone, and checked for coverage. It was kind of lame in Morganville, truthfully, out in the middle of the prairie, in the middle of Texas, which was about as middle of nowhere as it was possible to get unless you wanted to go to Mongolia or something. Two bars. Not great, but it'd do.**

**Claire started dialling numbers. The first person told her that they'd already found somebody and hung up before she could even say, "Thanks". **

Shane did a really bad impersonation of Claire and she started bushing and we laughed and so did Claire.

**The second one sounded like a weird old guy. The third one was a weird old lady. The fourth one… well, the fourth one was just plain weird. **

**The fifth listing down read. **

**THREE ROOMATES SEEKING FOURTH, **_**huge old house, privacy assured, reasonable rent and utilities.**_

**Which… OK, she wasn't sure that she could afford 'reasonable' – she was more looking for 'dirt cheap' – but at least it sounded less weird than the others. Three roommates. That meant three more people who'd maybe take up for her if Monica and company came sniffing around… or at least take up for the house. Hmmmmm. **

**She called, and got an answering machine with a mellow-sounding, **_**young-**_**sounding male voice. 'Hello you've reached the Glass House. If you're looking for Michael, he sleeps days. If you're looking for Shane, good luck with that. 'Cause we never know where the hell he is' – distance laughter from at least two people – 'and if you're looking for Eve, you'll probably get her on her cell phone or at the shop. But hey. Leave a message. And if you're looking to audition for the room, come on by. It's 716 West Lot Street.' A totally different voice, a female one lightened by giggles like bubbles in soda.' **

_So that was what Claire had thought of my voice back then I loved her like a sister and I knew she felt the same but she was acting strange today and since this book came along and it had something to do with her past I just hope we find out because she needed people around to care for her. _

'**Claire blinked, coughed, and finally said, 'Um… hi. My name is Claire? Claire Danvers? And I was, um calling about the, um, room thing. Sorry.' and hung up in a panic. Those three people sounded… normal.' **

We all laughed at that even Claire because she soon realised that… well were not completely normal she got that but it was funny after the laughter died down Shane started reading again.

'**But they sounded pretty close, too. And in her experience. Groups of friends like that just didn't open up to include underage, undersized geeks like her. They hadn't sounded mean; they just sounded – self-confident. Something she wasn't. ' **

_What was that all about I mean it was talking about big groups but from when like high school or junior high or middle school which one?_

'**God, I'm dead. She couldn't sleep out here on a bench like some homeless loser, and she couldn't go back to the dorm; she had to do something. **

_**Fine, **_**she thought, and snapped her phone shut, then open again to dial a cab. **

**Seven sixteen Lot Street. **_**Gone with the Wind meets The Munsters. Right. **_

_**Maybe they'd at least feel sorry enough for her to put her up for one lousy night. **_

_**The cabbie – she figured he was just about the only cabdriver in Morganville, which apart from the campus at TPU on the edge of town had only about ten thousand people in it – took an hour to show up. Claire hadn't been in a car in six weeks, since her parents had driven her into town. She hadn't been much beyond a block off the campus, either, and the just to buy used books for class.'**_

Some reason Shane stopped reading and it seemed for something and he was going to tell us even if we didn't want to hear it.

"Claire that was really stupid what you did." He looked down at Claire like a child which she didn't like and she got up from where she was sitting next to me and walked off and I followed and then walked back as her door slammed shut.

"What's her problem?" Shane the idiot said and I knew if I wasn't worried about my best friend I would have slapped him.

"Shane shut up and read the rest of the story while I talk to Claire ok." I told him knowing he wasn't going to like it but that wasn't the problem.

I walked up the stairs one at a time slowly wondering what could have made Claire so upset but I knew it wasn't what Shane had said it was something else like the book. She'd tried to get rid of the book this morning and she hated the fact that she could be found out. But of what? I got to her door hearing Claire mumbling something under her breathe and I didn't sound English. I knocked on the door and it stopped and Claire came to the door with blood flowing from a cut on her wrists.

I couldn't believe my eyes Claire had cut herself because of what Shane had said. I looked at her and she saw what I saw and she looked scared of what I'd say but it was because she was my friend and I cared about her. "Claire what were you thinking you can't do that it's dangerous, why'd you do that!" I didn't care that I was shouting even if the boys came running up telling us to be quiet but this was stupid Claire was clever super clever.

"Eve you don't understand just shut up you have no idea why I'm doing this so go away." She shouted back but I couldn't just do that I had to get through to her that this was stupid and that she needed to stop.

"Did you do this because of what Shane said because if it is then you're more stupid than I gave you credit for." She looked hurt and fear ran through her eyes and I saw a hint of red in them and she looked at the floor and I saw her wrist, it was healing like the vamps but Claire wasn't one was she? She looked at me and dragged me into her room and it got freaky there was a big book on her desk opened on a page and it had a weird language written in there like the founder's book.

"It's not the founders it's mine. It's mine because I'm not human Eve." She told me with resentment in her voice but I had to hear her out even if she wasn't human.

"Then what are you, are you a vampire like Michael?" I asked her but she seemed to hate that idea like it was worse than what she was.

"No I'm not a vampire I'm… not dangerous either there is so much more to me than you'll ever understand and that book could destroy me. And my family please I can't have that book show what I am." She pleaded with me.

"Claire what are you if you're not a vampire than what are you, you can trust me?" I told her hoping she'd believe me and I saw the fighting in her eyes to tell me.

"Fine I'm a werewolf what I was doing was stopping from changing tonight, it's a full moon and I can't hurt people I'm supposed to keep them safe that is the reason for my life. For all werewolf kind." She told me I wanted to say she was joking with me but I could tell she was telling the truth.

" I believe you but why haven't you told us before?" I had to find out this was big.

" I only found out three months ago from Amelia and she told me that I was orphaned and that my real father sacrificed himself to keep me safe from Bishop. But that back fired because he found me and the book I was supposed to keep away from him and know I keep changing and keeping you all in danger if I hurt any of you I would hate myself. I have no control over myself when it's a full moon you have to keep this a secret till I tell the boys please." She begged me and it was a lot to ask and I nodded and she smiled and I hugged her knowing she'd need it. She hugged back and I had to ask a few important questions.

"So how long have you been like this?" I asked her and she seemed to understand my asking because she already answered me. It was minutes later after her cleaning up after her mess and we came down and she ran to Shane as he was reading and hugged him. He looked shocked and she whispered something that made him blush deep red and it was funny.

"So are we reading or what?" she asked even though she didn't look too happy about it.

" Yeah come on then let's begin again." He said happy that Claire wasn't angry with him.

'**So I guess you're gonna say that the other chick looks worse,' Shane said. **

**She shook her head, then winced when motion made it hurt even more. 'No, I – um – how did you know it was – ?' **

'**A chick? Easy. Size you are, a guy would have put you in the hospital with a punch hard enough to leave a mark like that. So what's up with that? You don't look like you go looking for trouble.'**

It was middle of the day now and I was so tired and I saw that Claire had fallen asleep in Shane's arms I got off the sofa and went to Michael and fell asleep in his arms as Shane kept reading the book.

It was a few hours later when I woke up and Michael and Shane were both asleep and I got up carefully and it was strange seeing us all together and sleeping as well. I looked around the room and saw that Claire was gone and I looked around and found her in the hallway at the front door whispering harshly. I saw who she was talking to and I didn't like it. JASON. It was not fair why was he here?

I walked over moving Claire out of the way and Jason saw me. He looked complete the same, same pale skin and dark eyes and I wanted to know what's going on here. "What's going on here?" I asked not so nicely.

"I was talking to C because the founder wants to speak to her and if not then it's her funeral." He stated.

"I'd like to see the old lady try it" Claire snapped back and what was the nickname about?

"Claire just go ok I'll tell the boys and don't be long ok." I told her like a child and she grabbed her bag that she used for University and she walked out the door with Jason as I went into the living room the boys started waking up and I sat down on the sofa.

"Where's Claire" asked Shane I just looked at him and told him that her majesty called her and that she'd be back soon hopeful in time to cook us all food.

It was dinner time when Claire came back and she looked beaten up she had bruises all over her arms and she had brought home burgers just the way we like them.

"Sorry had things to do and I'm fine before you ask and I need to explain some things as well you might want to sit down for this." She told us and it didn't sound too good, I was hoping she was telling us that she was a werewolf or something.

"Ok so I went to see Amelia with Jason and I had no idea what was going on and when I got there my real family were there." She started to cry but I didn't understand why because I'd be happy but… oh yeah her father had sacrificed himself to save her from Bishop but they had no idea where she was and what had happened. I got up and hugged her and the boys seemed shocked at what she'd said but I understood they didn't know everything. "Sorry anyway there are something's you should know. I was adopted when I was a baby and was brought up by the people you guys know as my parents I found out about three months ago that I wasn't human that I was a werewolf and that my father had sacrificed himself to save me from Bishop it was because of the book it belongs to my family where my father created it and now my family is here and they will do anything for the book to bring back my father and I'm in a lot of trouble." She told us everything but I hadn't known about the family still being alive.

"Claire are you serious I mean I love you but are you joking and who did this to you?" Shane asked her with angry in his voice.

"I'm sorry Shane but I'm not joking and it was… no one don't worry." She said to the floor because she knew that we could tell she was lying. Shane got up and went to her and cupped her face and she started to cry heavily and he hugged her like nothing had happened and I walked out and up to bed but couldn't when a knock on the door stopped me halfway up the stairs. I walked to answer and there was a flock of people and they pasted me and it was weird they all looked a little bit like Claire in one way or another.

They were all in the kitchen and Claire was backed into the corner with an elderly lady holding her and Claire was struggling and Michael was on the floor and Shane was nowhere to be seen and it looked like Claire was going to lose it. "Let go of my friends now!" she shouted at the top of her lungs and her eyes went red and it was over in seconds the people just all were silent and Michael and Shane were standing shell shocked at what had happened and Claire was in ripped clothes and breathing heavy.

_**End of chapter two**_


	3. Trouble again

_**Chapter three **_

_**Shane's pov:**_

_I couldn't believe what had happened Claire had changed into something you see in the movies and it didn't scare me, she didn't scare me one bit. That was how much I loved her and I knew she loved me that much. _

The kitchen was full of people and one of the boys went over to her and slapped Claire around the face hard enough to make her stumble to the floor. I tried to get to her but Michael was holding me back from helping the women I love. "How could you be so stupid Cruz? You have ruined everything we've worked for. To bring back our father from the dead." Shouted a young girl older than Claire with long brown hair like Claire's, black eyes, she was tanned, she was wearing a pink skirt and a white top that clung to her curves making her look hot. Claire seemed to want to go over to her and the older lady walked over to Claire and helped her up and Claire started crying and hugged the lady and she hugged her back.

"I'm sorry mother I didn't know any of this, I'm so sorry I want father back but it's too dangerous isn't it?" Claire cried to the women.

"It is ok now Cruz we will bring him back and give you your memories of everything you have forgotten. But you must help us with returning the book to its rightful owners my child." The old lady said with a smile on her face.

"Claire you can't its not right to steal from Amelia you know that." Michael said from where we were standing and all of us starred at him and he didn't stop. "Claire you know that the book belongs to Amelia as much as it belongs to your family it's the war. Bishop killed your father for the book and Amelia killed Bishop for the book you'd have to kill Amelia to get it. And that's just suicide." He was telling the truth but we had no idea what these people could do.

"We'll do anything to get our father back we've come this far and killing another insect like your kind isn't going to stop us, we've killed countless insects to get here and we're not going to stop." Said a boy taller than me and Michael and it showed in his voice. He had short black hair and brown eyes like Claire's and wore a white shirt and black trousers.

"Be quiet Cade you shouldn't threaten the second youngest vampire. It'd be a shame to do that he hasn't lived as long as all of us. Isn't that right Cruz?" the old lady said and looked at Claire with a smile on her face.

"What's she on about Claire?" Eve asked her and it was going to spin are worlds around I could just feel it.

"I don't want to tell them Mother they don't have to know everything about me." Claire told the old lady and then one of the girls came over to her and whispered in Claire's ear and her eyes widened and the girl held Claire back as she struggled.

"Leave them alone, don't touch them, don't leave them Cadence they haven't done anything to you. Stop let me go Calleigh." Claire was shouting and crying and then the tall girl I was guessing was Cadence and she came over to me and she touched my chest and pushed me through the kitchen door and into the hallway. I heard the others scream out my name and it went all black as Cadence came over to me.

It was night time when I woke up and I was tied to a chair along with Eve and Michael and Claire was held against the wall in the living room with two girls holding her and it didn't look good. I could feel someone behind me and it wasn't a nice feeling I tried looking and I felt a sharp pain coming from my left shoulder I tried looking but Claire started screaming in pain and I looked and one of the girls were holding her with claws as Claire bleed on the floor of the living room. The blood was dripping slowly and on the look of Claire's face it wasn't that painful but unpleasant.

It was only minutes later that they started looking around the house and it wasn't a fun experience. They soon found Claire's book the Glass House one of all of us. They throw it at Claire's feet and dropped her along with it. "What is this?" asked one of the girls.

"It's a book about when I first arrived here in Morganville and what happened we've gotten to Chapter three. What do you want with it then Caoimhe?"

"Does it have anything to do with the founder's book in it?" she asked Claire coldly. Claire nodded and the older lady clapped her hands and everyone looked her way and as if nothing had happened they were all sitting around Claire on the sofa.

"Mother I'm not sure this is right you know better than all of us." Claire was talking to the older lady. She got up and seemed to see us all for the first time and smiled.

"Hello humans' and vampire I'm sorry for what happened to you three and Cruz I believe you do not know our names and that is not good manners. Please as we use to do in the good old days children." They all stood up in front of us so did Claire and it was then that I realised they were introducing themselves not at all like the vampires that kept to themselves all the time _**(On my profile of what they all look like)**_. "My name is Cali Archer I'm the mother of my thirteen pups and I am over 1500 years old making me older than you're so called founder that we had a meeting with." Said the older lady she looked a lot like Claire with her hair style meaning she paid attention to the times and her eyes were so much like looking into Claire's eyes and she wore something not even Amelia would wear. Then one of the boys and girls came forwards and bowed their heads at us.

"My name is Cade this is my Twin Cadence we're…" he told us without finishing his sentence the girl Cadence came into it.

"We're 800 years old and we're the only twins in this family except the two youngest." They all seemed to have either the same hair colour or eye colour it was really weird and they had black hair and brown eyes and pale like Claire's skin was and wearing both blue tops and black trousers.

They went back into the row and then two more came out and bowed their heads to us and they nodded. "We're Cain and Caitlin and we're both twins like the others and we're 795 years old and love the modern world." They both said it at the same time which seemed weird and Claire was shaking her head as they walked back. It was strange they seemed to look the same as well they had black hair with white strips on their side fringes and brown eyes and tanned and they were wearing black suits and a pink and blue shirt with black ties.

Then four people came forwards and bowed their heads and they were starring at us.

"Hello we're Cairo, Caleb, Calleigh and Caoimhe we're 750 years old." They all raised their hands when the boy Cairo said their names and the boys were wearing suits and the girls were wearing dresses. They had brown hair curly and black eyes and tanned.

Then some more of them came forward this time it was three of them this time and they had black and brown hair and black eyes but they didn't all look the same. "Hi I'm Celyn these are my brothers Carter and Cayden and we're 700 years old." She told us as she pointed to the two men in front of us the men were wearing blue suits with white ties and black shirts and the girl was wearing a pink skirt and white top and high heels. They went back into their line then Claire and a boy came forward and Claire had changed what she was wearing which looked nothing like what she normal would wear these days.

"Hello my name is Chester and this is my twin sister Cruz and were 680 years old." This guy was telling me the most important thing and Claire looked like she wanted to cry. He had longish brown hair like Claire and brown eyes and was wearing a black top and jeans and boots like he was ready for action and Claire was wearing a white top and white jeans and boots as well.

This was insane my girlfriend was 680 years old that's impossible and what is with this other name business. I could tell Claire knew I was scared about this, she ran away crying and it was my fault I had to sort this out and fast. I ran after her to her bedroom door where it was locked. I knocked and it opened to Claire crying. I grabbed her into a hug as she cried into my chest. "Claire I don't care about any of this really, I'm shocked but that's all really I love you no matter how old you are to me." I told her she looked up at me and smiled and there was something she wasn't telling me.

"it's not just that Shane but the fact that I'll have to leave here now to bring my father back to life meaning never seeing you again." She started crying again.

"What you mean you'll have to leave, not forever?" I asked but it was more like shouting.

"My father forbids that we have any relations with a human. I have with my other lives because of the curse. Shane the only reason I grew up with the Danvers's was because of the cruse they were a part of it. They were to raise me and as the other older people in their families did Shane I would die and change into a baby and I'd be cared for I saw what Mrs Danvers's birth I was there and in world was one and two. I can't be with you Shane I'm not allowed if my family raise my father from the dead." She was telling me about how she had other partners throughout her life but I didn't care she was saying we couldn't be together, this was like when she died all over again and I saw in her eyes it was the same for her seeing me insane for her.

"Shane I'm sorry but you need to know this now before anything happens. I love you I will forever."

"Me too I love you there will never be anyone else for me after you Claire." We kissed with passionately and it was amazing so much wanting in those kisses. A clearing of the throat stopped us and it was one of her brothers.

"Sorry Cain we'll both be down to read the book in a moment thank you" she said as if she cared about the book.

We walked down the stairs together and into the living room to everyone sitting down and no room for anyone. It was strange to see Claire's mother in Mike's chair and him on the sofa but she was older and also a guest in this house. "Let's begin reading this book shall we?" she said like a queen. But Claire didn't pick the book up from the coffee table like she would.

"Why should I Mother this is dangerous what you're doing we can't find the book I forbid it." She said with power in her voice, but her family rose from where they sat and it looked dangerous.

"Cruz do as mother says she knows better and we need father." Her twin brother said as if he was trying to protect her from herself.

"No Chester we can't, father being reborn will bring back more than just him." She said and I knew that she had some point even though I had no idea what she was talking about.

"What are you talking about sister?" it was her older sister Cadence she looked scared of what could happen.

"The spell will bring back Chelsea and also Bishop and his little followers and none of us will be safe from him." No this was not happening that bastard had changed Frank into a vamp in front of me and it was all his fault I'd lost him. And who was this Chelsea but it seemed to scare everyone else.

"I don't care we will do this then if what you say is true then we destroy them." The werewolf queen said from her throne.

"I will not kill me sister let alone my lost triplet making me and Chester twins. And it was your fault for not helping the rest of us fight of Bishop and him gaining the book. And it may have been my fault for him finding the book but it was all you that Chelsea and Father are dead." Claire was shouting and all of them looked scared and sad. Then I felt a cold chill in the air. Amelia.

"Hello again the Archer family, it was nice of you to make your welcome with me but Claire is under my protection and I see you have all met her friends." It looked like she didn't know most of the story.

"Leave us alone Bishops spawn we hate what your father has done to our family and will make it known that you will be staked by me." Said Cali she was not in a good mood it seemed after what Claire had said.

"I don't care what you say but you miss understand and yes children I know of Claire's or Cruz's situation and she is still under my protection. And Bishop has been dealt with and Cruz helped with the taking care of him and her friends here" she said and then a manic laugh came from behind her and Myrnin came into the room and Cali came running to him and hugged him and everyone didn't seem shocked accept me, Eve and Michael.

"What is going on?" Eve was the first of us to exclaim and Claire started to blush.

"Well that's the thing it's not a good Idea that you know but you've already seen. Myrnin to the family is a friend and help he cured our ills and helped trying to bring back Chelsea." She looked sad about the last part.

"I'm sorry my child but she was long gone and what happened after I'm still so sorry about that. And hello Cali and al your children" he said with a smile and it was just weird.

It was later on and they went along with Claire's family and Claire she said it was something to do with the full moon out in the sky and she was scared of what would happen if she stayed. I went to bed alone and it felt wrong as if I was going to have to get use to it from now on like Claire had said about her leaving but she didn't want that like me. I fell asleep later on as I kept thinking about life without Claire and it all seemed wrong my thoughts were disrupted when a huge bang came from downstairs. I got out of bed and saw that Michael and Eve had heard it as well and we ran down Michael being faster to find a Werewolf in our hallway. "Shane, Eve get back its dangerous get back it'll kill you I've only got a small chance now get into the secret room." Michael shouted at us but something stopped me and then another one came in and it saw us and started to attack the other werewolf they bit and scratched at each other and kept going till it was into the street. We ran into the street behind them and the sun was rising and they were still going at it as they were changing back into their human forms and it Claire and her Mother fighting.

"What do you think you're doing Mother?" Claire was shouting and it echoed through the empty streets.

"If you're so called friends were dead you'd help raise your father and it will happen Cruz I will make sure of it." Then Claire stopped and went past us into the house and came back out seconds later with a piece of cloth around an object. She went to her mother and it looked like we all knew something big was about to happen.

"This is for you Mother as you have no magic left." The others of Claire's family came over as she revealed the founders book. "I was given it by Myrnin for when I'd need it I guess he knew about this day but I really doubt it." She opens the book and the pages flicked to a page. Claire's eyes went black like in her werewolf form and it looked like something was about to happen. "I ask the gods to open the portal to the land of the dead and to bring back our beloved ones of this land and to give them no harm." Then a thunder clap came without a cloud in the sky. Then a portal like black hole opened in front of Claire and then five figures emerged out of the portal and it wasn't too good.

Yep I was right not good. Because Ysandre, Francis, Bishop and a girl that looked exactly like Claire and a man, the rest of us where shocked but this was just weird, then Ysandre came over to me and started to flirt. I mean really she just came back from the dead and she's flirting and it wasn't good because next thing I know is Claire holding her hair and pulling her away which I have to say I was glad about that. "Come on now little Claire he was my play thing first." She snickered and Claire slapped her and it was all girls fighting and then Bishop and Francis pulled Ysandre and Claire a part. Well this couldn't go any worse.

Ok shouldn't talk like that because Bishop and his followers ran off vamp speed, which meant a lot of trouble for everyone again?


	4. More & more maybe some more

_**Book: Glass House Chapter three/four**_

_**Chapter four**_

So sorry it's long but it'll explain some things Michael was thinking back in the day when he first met Claire.

_**Michael's pov: **_

_This wasn't good Bishop and his followers were back from the dead because of Claire and her family and that meant trouble. I know that Claire knew what she'd done and she was out with her family searching everywhere for him. I wasn't any use they had better chance than any vampire. Shane and Eve where here with me and Claire was all alone well not really but mostly I guess. What happened after Bishop got free was strange. _

**Flashback: **

_**Claire came over to us and hugged us. "guys this is my sister Chelsea she died when I was about eleven and we look the same because she's my other half if you like and well she tried to protect our father and got killed. Then when she came back she became insane and the curse was put on me and Bishop killed her again because she became so insane. So we'll be back soon and I love you guys a lot so be careful. We're going to go hunt down Bishop and his followers don't worry I'll be careful." She said and hugged us again and walked off with her family and I started to burn and ran into the house and it just seemed strange without Claire here in the house with us it felt like a piece was missing and Bishop was back that meant it was war and Claire was in the middle of it. **_

**End of Flashback: **

We were all sitting around and Eve grabs the book and starts flipping to a page. "Why don't we read the rest of this?" she asked us.

"Why not it'll past the time while Claire's not here with us and we haven't got anything better to do because of the dangerous situation called Bishop." Said Shane they both looked at me and I just nodded and Eve began reading.

"**Chapter three**

**She woke up in the dark with a panicked flinch that sent the ice pack - water sloshing in a bag now - thumping off her pillow and onto the floor.**

**The house was quiet, except for the creaky, creepy noises houses made at night. Outside, wind rattled the dry leaves on the trees, and she heard music coming from the other side of the bedroom door." **

I thought to myself_she really was scared that night when she saw me disappear in front of her. I wish she hadn't found out about that but then I wouldn't be what I am now if it wasn't for her._

"**The music was slow and warm and contemplative, kind of guitar alternative. **

**She got her shoes on, took a look in the dresser mirror, and got a nasty shock. Her face still hurt, and it was obvious why - her right eye was swollen, the skin around it purple. Her split lip looked shiny and unpleasantly thick, too. Her face - always pale - looked even paler than normal. Her short pixie-cut black hair had a serious case of bed-head, but she fluffed it out into something like order. She'd never really been much for makeup, even when she'd been stealing Mom's to try on." **

"Man she looked great in that pink and white wig we got in Dallas, where is that anyway?" Eve stated.

"Not sure but I loved the way she looked totally sexy like always." Shane replied to Eve.

"She's not here Shane your safe" I said but Eve gave me a look that said she would tell Claire when she got back about what we'd said about her.

**Claire took a deep breath and opened her bedroom door. Lights were on in the hall, warm and glowing gold; the music was coming from downstairs, in the living room. She checked a clock hanging on the wall at the far end; it was after midnight - she'd slept for more than twelve hours.**

**And missed all her classes."**

_She always cared about her classes and she still cares about them even now after everything that's happened. _

"**Not that she'd have wanted to show up looking like this, even if she hadn't been so paranoid about Monica following her around...but she'd need to hit the books later. At least the books didn't hit back. **

**Her bruises felt better, and in fact her head hurt only a little. Her ankle was still the worst of it, sending sharp glassy jabs of pain up her leg with every step down the stairs. **

**She was halfway down when she saw the boy sitting on the couch, where Shane had been sprawled before. He had a guitar in his hands.**

**Oh. The music. She'd thought it was a recording, but no, this was real, this was live, and he was playing it. She'd never heard live music before - not really playing, not like this. He was...wow. He was wonderful."**

"Well that is my husband after all." Eve said too proudly for this.

"**She watched him, frozen, because he clearly didn't even know she existed yet; it was just him and the guitar and the music, and if she had to put a name to what she could see on his face, it would be something poetic, like longing. He was blond, his hair cut kind of like Shane's, in a careless mop. Not as big as Shane, and not as muscled, though he was maybe as tall. He was wearing a T-shirt; too, black, with a beer logo, blue jeans. No shoes.**

**He stopped playing, head down, and reached for the open beer on the table in front of him. **

**He toasted empty air. "Happy birthday to you, man." He tossed back three swallows, sighed, and put the bottle down. "And here's to house arrest. What the hell. Own it or get owned." **

**Claire coughed. He turned, startled, and saw her standing there on the stairs; his frown cleared after a second or two. "Oh. You're the one Shane said wanted to talk about the room. Hey. Come on down."**

**She did, trying not to limp, and when she got into the full light she saw his quick, intelligent blue eyes catalogue the bruises.**

**He didn't say a word about them. "I'm Michael," he said. "And you're not eighteen, so this is going to be a real short conversation." **

**She sat, fast, heart pounding. "I'm in college," she said. "I'm a freshman. My name is -" **

**"Don't bullshit me, and I don't care what your name is. You're not eighteen. It's a good bet you're not even seventeen. We don't take anybody in this house who isn't legal." He had a deep voice, warm but - at least right now - hard. "Not that you'd be signing on to Orgy Central, but sorry, me and Shane have to worry about things like that. All it takes is you living here and somebody even hinting there's something going on -" **

**"Wait," she blurted. "I wouldn't do that. Or say that. I'm not looking to get you guys in trouble. I just need -" **

**"No," he said. He put the guitar aside, in its case, and latched it shut. "I'm sorry, but you can't stay here. House rules."**

"Man you were rude, what made you say that?" Shane asked me. I just shrugged my shoulders as Eve continued to read the story.

"**She'd known it was coming, of course, but she'd let herself think - Eve had been nice, and Shane hadn't been horrible, and the room was so nice - but the look in Michael's eyes was as final as it got. Complete and utter rejection. **

**She felt her lips trembling, and hated herself for it. Why couldn't she be a badass, stone-cold bitch? Why couldn't she stand up for herself when she needed to without breaking down into tears like a baby? **

_Man she was hard on herself for something like that maybe I shouldn't have been that hard on her like that but I can't go back for it. I wish I could. _

**Monica would slap money down on the table and dare him to turn it down.**

**Claire reached in her back pocket and pulled out her wallet. "How much?" she asked, and started counting out bills. She had twenties, so it looked like a lot. "Three hundred enough? I can get more if I have to." **

**Michael sat back, surprised, a little frown bracketing his forehead. He reached for his beer and took another sip while he thought about it. "How?" he asked. **

**"What?" **

**"How would you get more?" **

**"Get a job. Sell stuff." **

**Not that she had much to sell, but in an emergency there was always the panicked call to Mom. "I want to stay here, Michael. I really do." She was surprised at the conviction in her voice. **

**"Yeah, I'm under eighteen, but I swear, you won't have any trouble from me. I'll stay out of your way. I go to school, and I study. That's all I do. I'm not a partyer, I'm not a slacker. I'm useful. I'll - I'll help clean and cook." **

**He thought about it, staring at her; he was the kind of person you could actually see thinking. It was a little scary, although he probably didn't mean it to be. There was just something so...adult about him. So sure of himself. **

**"No," he said. "I'm sorry, kid. But it's just too much risk." **

**"Eve's only a little bit older than I am!" **

**"Eve's eighteen. You're what, sixteen?" **

**"Almost seventeen!" If you were a little fluid on the definition of almost. "I really am in college. I'm a freshman - look, here's my student ID..." **

**He ignored it. "Come back in a year. We'll talk about it," he said. "Look, I'm sorry. What about the dorm?" **

**"They'll kill me if I stay there," she said, and looked down at her clasped hands. "They tried to kill me today." **

**"What?" **

**"The other girls. They punched me and shoved me down the stairs."**

**Silence. A really long one. She heard the creak of leather, and then Michael was on one knee next to the chair. Before she could stop him, he was probing the bump on her head, tilting it back so he could get a good, impersonal look at the bruises and cuts. "What else?" he asked. **

**"What?" **

**"Besides what I can see? You're not going to drop dead on me, are you?" **

**Wow, sensitive."**

"You're really not that sensitive before you turn into a ghost we're you?" Shane asked me._But I just couldn't believe it Claire was so more… different in her head than she was when she actually talked to you but now she was defiantly smarter, talkative and funny and more confident in herself now because of us and what is happening to her. _I thought. Eve kept reading the book after what Shane had said.

"**"I'm okay. I saw the doctor and everything. It's just - bruises. And a strained ankle. But they pushed me down the stairs, and they meant it, and she told me –"Suddenly, Eve's words about vampires came back to her and made her trip over her tongue. "The girl in charge, she told me that tonight, I'd get what was coming to me. I can't go back to the dorm, Michael. If you send me out that door, they'll kill me, because I don't have any friends and I don't have any place to go!"**

**He stayed there for a few more seconds, looking her right in the eyes, and then retreated to the couch. **

**He unlatched the guitar case again and cradled the instrument; she thought that was his comfort zone, right there, with the guitar in his arms. "These girls. Do they go out in daylight?" **

**She blinked. "You mean, outside? Sure. They go to classes. Well, sometimes." **

**"Do they wear bracelets?" **

**She blinked. "You mean, like - "Eve had left hers behind on the table, so she picked up the leather band with its red symbol. "Like this? I never noticed. They wear a lot of stuff." She thought hard, and maybe she did remember something after all. The bracelets didn't look like this, though. They were gold, and Monica and the Monickettes all had them on their right wrists. She'd never paid much attention. "Maybe." **

**"Bracelets with white symbols?" Michael made the question casual; in fact, he bent his head and concentrated on tuning his guitar, not that it needed it. Every note sounded perfect as it whispered out of the strings. "Do you remember?" **

**"No." She felt a pure burst of something that wasn't quite panic, wasn't quite excitement. "Does that mean they have Protection?" **

**He hesitated for about a second, just long enough for her to know he was surprised. "You mean condoms?" he asked. "Doesn't everybody?"**

**"You know what I mean." Her cheeks were burning. She hoped it wasn't as obvious as it felt. **

**"Don't think I do." **

**"Eve said -" **

**He looked up sharply, and those blue eyes were suddenly angry. "Eve needs to keep her mouth shut. She's in enough danger as it is, trolling around out there in Goth gear. They already think she's mocking them. If they hear she's talking..."**

"HEY" Eve yelled at me and I just smiled at her and she hugged me and I hugged her back.

**"They, who?" Claire asked. It was his turn to look away. **

**"People," he said flatly. "Look, I don't want your blood on my hands. You can stay for a couple of days. But only until you find a place, right? And make it fast - I'm not running a halfway house for battered girls. I've got enough to worry about trying to keep Eve and Shane out of trouble." **

**For a guy who made such beautiful music, he was bitter, and a little scary. **

"First impressions are important Mickey gotta be careful what you say to people." Shane said a little to mocking but I knew what he meant. I had been a bit too mean on little Claire Bear.

**Claire put the money hesitantly on the table in front of him. He stared at it, jaw tense.**

**"The rent's a hundred a month," he said. "You buy groceries once a month, too. First month in advance. But you're not staying past that, so keep the rest." **

**She swallowed and picked up two hundred of the three hundred she'd counted out. "Thanks," she said. **

**"Don't thank me," he said. "Just don't get us into trouble. I mean it."**

**She got up, went into the kitchen, and spooned chili into two bowls, added the bowls to trays along with spoons and Cokes, and brought it all back to set it on the coffee table. Michael stared at it, then her. She sat down on the floor - painfully - and began eating. After a pause, Michael took his bowl and tasted it. **

**"Shane made it," Claire said. "It's pretty good." **

**"Yeah. Chili and spaghetti, that's pretty much all Shane can cook. You know how to make anything?" **

**"Sure." **

**"Like?" **

**"Lasagne," she said. "And, um, sort of a hamburger hash thing, with noodles. And tacos."**

"And there always sweet and good to eat and now she knows how to make even more food for us to eat every day." That was Shane of course he loved his food and it was making us all hunger and Eve went to the phone to call for a pizza and it would be here soon.

"**Michael looked thoughtful. "Could you make tacos tomorrow?" **

**"Sure," she said. "I have classes from eleven to five, but I'll stop and pick up the stuff." **

**He nodded, eating steadily, glancing up at her once in a while. "I'm sorry," he finally said.**

**"About what?" **

**"Being an asshole. Look, it's just that I can't - I have to be careful. Really careful." **

**"You weren't being an asshole," she said. "You're trying to protect yourself and your friends. That's okay. That's what you're supposed to do." **

**Michael smiled, and it transformed his face, made it suddenly angelic and wonderful. Dude, she thought in amazement. He's totally gorgeous. No wonder he'd been worried about her being underage. A smile like that, he'd be peeling girls off of him right and left. **

**"If you're in this house, you're my friend," he said. "What's your name, by the way?" **

**"Claire. Claire Danvers." **

**"Welcome to the Glass House, Claire Danvers." **

**"But only temporarily." **

**"Yeah, temporarily." **

**They shared a smile, uneasily, and Michael cleared up the plates this time, and Claire went back up to her room, to spread out her books on the built-in desk and start the day's studying.**

**She listened to him playing downstairs, the soft and heartfelt accompaniment to the night, as she fell into the world she loved.**

That's the end of chapter three guys and I'm still bored what you want to do?" Eve said.

"We could do more of the book till the pizza gets here and we could see what Claire did. I so love the idea of this and it's more fun that way. We could question Claire about all this when she gets back?" Shane said he was really enjoying this it was silly to do that to your own girlfriend I wouldn't do that to Eve if that were me.

"Yeah let's do it Michael you can read it then when Claire gets back she can read it as well." Eve said she was really enjoying reading about this as well.

"Yeah why not so what happens next Eve?" I asked and she turned the page to chapter four.

"**Chapter four**

**Morning dawned bright and early, and Claire woke up to the smell of frying bacon. She stumbled to the bathroom down the hall, yawning, barely aware that she was scantily dressed in her extra-long T-shirt until she remembered, Oh my God, boys live here, too. **

We all laughed at this I could imagine Claire now she'd of walked along and then realised after she came back because Shane or me would of come into the hallway and she'd run past us like the other morning.

_**Flashback to yesterday morning: **_

_**I woke up early to get to work and saw Claire coming out of the bathroom in one of Shane's t-shirts and she saw me standing shell shocked and she started blushing and ran past me and into her room and I heard Shane laugh as she told him and her slapping him violently and then he came out the room and Claire throwing a pillow at his head. **_

**On impulse, she opened the closet, and found some old stuff pushed to the back. T-shirts, mostly, from bands she'd never heard of,** **and a few she remembered as ancient. A couple of sweaters, too. She stripped off her blood-stained shirt and dragged on a faded black one, and, after thinking about it, left her shoes on the floor.**

**Downstairs, Eve and Shane were arguing in the kitchen about the right way to make scrambled eggs. Eve said they needed milk. Shane said milk was for pussies. **

**Claire padded silently past them, over to the refrigerator, and pulled out a carton of orange juice. She splashed some into a glass, then silently held the carton up for the other two. Eve took it and poured herself a glass, then handed it to Shane.**

**"So," Shane asked, "Michael didn't pitch you out."**

**"No."**

**Shane nodded slowly. He was even bigger and taller than she remembered, and his skin was a golden brown colour, like he'd spent a lot of time in the sun over the summer. His hair had that bronzy sheen, too.**

**Sun-bleached where Michael was naturally blond. Okay, truthfully? They're both hotties. **

**She wished she hadn't really thought that, but at least she hadn't said it out loud.**

Eve started laughing and it became contagious and really funny because imagining Claire saying it now would have been funny but then it would have been hilarious.

**Eve was silently watching the two of them, which Claire figured was a new experience for Eve, at least the not-talking part. "He's your friend, right?"**

**"He saved my life," Shane said. "I'd die for him,** **but it'd be a dumbass thing to do to thank him for it. So yeah. He's been my friend all my life, and he's more like a brother. So don't get him in trouble."**

**"I won't," she said. "No milk in the eggs."**

**"See?" Shane turned back to the counter and started cracking eggs into a bowl. "Told ya."**

**"Traitor," Eve sighed, and poked at the frying bacon with a fork. "Fine. So How was Linda last night?"**

**"Laura."**

**"Whatever. Not like I have to remember a name for more than one date, anyway."**

**"She bowled a one fifty."**

**"God, you're such a disappointment. Share, already!"**

**Shane smiled tightly down at the eggs. "Hey, not in front of the kid. You got the note."**

**"Kid?" That hurt. Claire dropped plates on the counter with a little too much force. "Note?"**

**Shane handed over a folded piece of paper. It was short and sweet, and signed "Michael"...and it told them that Claire was underage, and that the two of them were supposed to look out for her while she was in the house.**

_I remembered writing that before I did one of my disappearing acts and it hurt to say that about Claire not because well she wasn't one she was older than me and the others but we hadn't known that then. _

**Cute. Claire didn't know whether to be pissed or flattered. On reflection...pissed. "I'm not a kid!" she told Shane hotly. "I'm only, like, a year younger than Eve!"**

**"And girls are much more mature." Eve nodded wisely. "So you're about ten years older than Shane, then."**

**"Seriously," Claire insisted. "I'm not a kid!"**

**"Whatever you say, kid," Shane said blandly. "Cheer up. Just means you don't have to put up with me telling you how much sex I didn't get."**

**"I'm telling Michael," Eve warned.**

**"About how much sex I didn't get? Go ahead."**

**"No bacon for you."**

**"Then no eggs for you. Either of you."**

**Eve glowered at him. "Prisoner exchange?"**

**They glared at each other, then swapped pans and started scooping.**

**Claire was just about to join in when the front doorbell rang a lilting silvery sound. It wasn't a scary sound, but Eve and Shane froze and looked at each other, and that was scary, somehow. Shane put his plate down on the granite countertop, licked bacon grease from his fingers, and said, "Get her out of sight."**

**Eve nodded. She dropped her own plate onto the counter, grabbed Claire's wrist, and hustled her to the pantry - a door half hidden in the shadow of the awkwardly placed refrigerator. It was big, dark, and dusty, shelves crowded with old cans of yams and asparagus and glass jars of ancient jellies. There was a light with a string pull above, but Eve didn't turn it on. She reached behind a row of murky-looking cans of fruit and hit some kind of a switch. There was a grating rumble, then a click, and part of the back wall swung open.**

**Eve pushed it back, reached in, and grabbed a flashlight that she handed to Claire. "Inside," she said.**

**"I'm going to turn the light on out here, but try to keep that flashlight off if you hear voices. It could show through the cracks." Claire nodded, a little dazed, and crouched down to crawl through the small opening into...a big empty room, stone floored, no windows. A few spider webs in the corners, and loads of dust, but otherwise it didn't look too bad.**

**Until Eve shut the door, and then the darkness slammed down, and Claire hastily flicked on the flashlight, moved to the nearest corner, and knelt down there, breathing fast and hard.**

**Just one minute ago, they'd been laughing about bacon and eggs, and all of a sudden...what the hell had just happened? And why was there a secret compartment in this house? One with - so far as she could tell - no other entrances or exits?**

**She heard distant voices, and hastily thumbed off the flashlight. That was bad. She'd never really been afraid of the dark, but dark wasn't really dark most of the time... There were stars, moonlight, distant streetlights.**

**This was pitch-black, take-no-prisoners dark, and she had the ice-cold thought that anything could be right next to her, reaching out for her, and she'd never see it coming.**

**Claire bit down hard on her lip, gripped the flashlight tightly, and slid down the wall until her searching hand found the rough wood of the door she'd come in through. A little light was leaking in around it, barely a glimmer but enough to ease the pounding in her chest.**

**Voices. Shane's and someone else's. A man's voice, deeper than Shane's. "...standard inventory."**

**"Sir, there's nobody living here but what's on the roster. Just the three of us." Shane sounded subdued and respectful, which didn't seem like him. Not that she knew him that well, but he was kind of a smart-ass.**

**"Which one are you?" the voice asked.**

**"Shane Collins, sir."**

**"Get your third in here," the voice said.**

**"Well, I would, but - Michael's not here. He's out until tonight. You want to check back then?"**

**"Never mind." Claire, straining her ears, heard paper rustling. "You're Eve Rosser?"**

**"Yes, sir." Eve sounded respectful, but brisk.**

**"Moved out of your parents' house - eight months ago?"**

**"Yes, sir."**

**"Employed?"**

**"At Common Grounds, you know, the coffee -"**

**The man, whoever he was, interrupted her. "You. Collins. Any employment?" Clearly talking to Shane.**

**"I'm between jobs, sir. You know how it is."**

**"Keep looking. We don't like slackers in Morganville. Everybody contributes."**

**"Yes, sir. I'll keep it in mind, sir."**

**A brief pause. Maybe there had been a little bit more smart-ass in Shane's response than there should have been. Claire deliberately slowed her breathing, trying to hear more.**

"Man she was really that nosey that she'd slow her breathing to listen in?" Eve said and laughed at the thought of her trying to do that. Then Eve continued reading.

**"You left town for a couple of years, boy. What brings you back?"**

**"Homesick, sir." Yes, it was definitely back in his voice, and even Claire knew that was a bad thing.**

**"Missed all my old friends."**

**She heard Eve clear her throat. "Sir, I'm sorry, but I've got work in a half hour...?"**

**More paper shuffling. "One other thing. Here's a picture of a girl that disappeared from her dorm last night. You haven't seen her?"**

**They both chorused a "No."**

**He must not have believed them, because he didn't sound convinced. "What's in here?" He didn't wait to hear a response; he just opened the outer door of the pantry. Claire flinched and held her breath. "You always leave the light on?"**

**"I was getting some jam when you rang, sir. I probably forgot to turn it off," Eve said. She sounded nervous. "Sorry."**

**Click. The light in the pantry went out; taking what little there was seeping through the door with it. Claire barely controlled a gasp. Don't move. Don't move. She just knew he - whoever he was - was standing there in the dark, looking and listening.**

**And then, finally, she heard him say, "You ring the station if you see that girl. She's got herself in some trouble. We're supposed to help her get straightened out."**

**"Yes, sir," Eve said, and the pantry door shut. The conversation moved away, became softer and softer until it faded into nothing.**

**Claire switched on the flashlight, covered it with her hand, and pointed it at the corner - only a little light escaped, just enough to convince her that no evil zombie was sneaking up on her in the dark.**

We had to laugh at that what just because werewolves and vampires and sirens exist that zombies do as well… well maybe they do? Never bothered to ask that? I'll do that next time I see Amelia or Claire.

**And then she waited. It seemed like a long time before there were two sharp raps on the door, and it swung open in a blaze of electric light. Eve's stark white makeup and black eyeliner looked even scarier than before.**

**"It's okay," she said, and helped Claire out of the hidden room. "He's gone."**

**"Oh, the hell it's okay," Shane said behind her. He had his arms folded across his chest, and rocked back and forth, frowning. "Those assholes have her picture. They're looking for her. What'd you do, Claire? Knife the mayor or something?"**

**"Nothing!" she blurted. "I - I don't know why - maybe it's that they're just worried because I didn't show up last night?"**

**"Worried?" Shane laughed bitterly. "Yeah, that's it. They're worried about you. Right. I'm going to have to talk this over with Michael. If they're going to turn the town upside down looking for you, either you're too hot to stay in Morganville, or we need to get you under some kind of Protection, fast."**

**He said it the same way Eve had. "But - maybe the police - ?"**

**"That was the police," Eve said. "Told you. They run the town. These guys work for the vamps - they're not vamps themselves, but they're scary enough without the fangs. Look, can you call your parents? Get them to pull you out of school and take you home or something?"**

**Sure. That would be the easiest thing in the world, only it would mean failure, and they'd never believe a word of this stuff, ever, and if she tried to explain it, she'd end up drugged and in therapy for the rest of her life. And any chance - any chance - of making it to Yale or MIT or Caltech would be blown completely. She supposed it was kind of dumb to be thinking of it that way, but those things were real to her.**

**Vampires? Not so much.**

**"But - I haven't done anything!" she said, and looked from Shane to Eve, and back again. "How can they be after me if I didn't do anything?"**

**"Life ain't fair," Shane said, with all the certainty of two more years of experience at it. "You must have pissed off the wrong people, is all I know. What's the girl's name? The one who smacked you around?"**

**"M-Monica."**

**They both stared at her.**

**"Oh, crap," Eve said, horrified. "Monica Morrell?"**

**Shane's face went...blank. Completely blank, except for his eyes, and there was something pretty scary going on behind them. "Monica," he repeated. "How come nobody told me?"**

**Eve was watching him, biting her lip. "Sorry, Shane. We would have - I swear, I thought she left town. Went off to college somewhere else."**

**Shane shook it off, whatever it was, and shrugged, trying to look like he didn't care. It was obvious to Claire that he did, though. "She probably couldn't stand not being the queen bee, and had to come begging back to Daddy to buy her some grades."**

**"Shane -"**

**"I'm fine. Don't worry about me."**

**"She probably doesn't even remember you," Eve blurted, and then looked as if she wished she hadn't said it. "I - that's not what I meant. I'm sorry."**

**He laughed, and it sounded wrong and a little bit shaky. There was a short, odd silence, and then Eve changed the subject by resolutely picking up her plate of cooling bacon and eggs.**

**And then went still and round-eyed. "Oh, shit," she said, and then covered her mouth.**

**"What?"**

**She pointed at the plates on the counter. Shane's, hers...and Claire's. "Three plates. He knew something was up. We told him Michael wasn't around. No wonder he kept poking."**

**Shane said nothing, but Claire could see he was - if possible - even more upset. He didn't show it much, but he picked up his plate and walked away, out into the living room, then up the steps two at a time.**

**His upstairs door slammed.**

**Eve bit her lip, watching after him.**

**"So… Shane and Monica...?" Claire guessed.**

**Eve kept staring at the doorway. "Not like you're thinking," she said. "He wouldn't touch that skank in a million years. But they were in high school together, and Shane - got on her bad side. Just like you did."**

**Claire's appetite for breakfast was suddenly gone. "What happened?"**

**"He stood up to her, and his house burned. He nearly died," she said. "His - his sister wasn't so lucky. Michael got him out of town, off on his own, before he did something crazy. He's been gone a couple of years. Just came back right before I moved in here." Eve forced a bright smile. "Let's eat, yeah? I'm starving."**

**They sat out in the living room, chatting about nothing, not talking about the thing that was most important: what to do.**

**Because, Claire sensed, neither one of them had a clue.**

Man that was hard I mean I remember being a ghost at the time seeing them look so scared of that. The pizza soon arrived and we eat in silence as we were in our PJS and Claire came walking through the door into the living room as we saw her covered in blood and ripped clothes as the sun started to drop. **(What they wear on profile)**


	5. What happened next

_**Book: Glass House Chapter five**_

_**Chapter five **_

_**Big sister Catlin's Pov: **_

Man I was in pain as we all walked into the Glass House from outside as the sun set we'd found Bishop but had lost him in a big blood bath my little sister Cruz wanted to go to her home but mother and father didn't want to leave her alone with a vampire and two humans. We walked in to see the humans in their PJS and reading the book that Carter had found. "So I see that you are reading the book?" mother said and she didn't seem too happy about that.

"What is this book got to do with anything?" asked father who'd only just come back into the picture and Cruz was coming down the stairs wearing something father and mother would not a prove of a shirt that came to her stomach and some shorts and jumped onto the brown haired boys lap kissing him with passion.

"Father please if mother still wishes to read the book all sit down and we can." Said Cruz with too much confidence in her voice for any of our likings as she sat with her friends, mother went over to them and pasted the book to me at a throw and I started to read.

"**Chapter five: **

**Claire watched the clock - some old-style wall clock, with hands - crawl slowly up to, and past, eleven o'clock. Professor Hamms is starting the lecture, she thought, and felt a nauseating twist in her stomach.**

**This was the second day in a row she'd missed school. In her whole life she'd never missed two days of school back-to-back.**

"No I haven't not in my long life but hey ho I'd catch up with my eyes closed." Cruz said but we knew what she was talking about having always been a nerd (I think that's what teenagers these days called them) she was a big one through all of her lives.

**Sure, she'd read the textbook already - twice - but lectures were important. That was how you found out the good stuff, especially in classes like physics, where they did practical demonstrations. Lectures were the fun part.**

**It was Thursday. That meant she had a lab class later too. You couldn't make up lab class, no matter how good your excuse.**

**She sighed, forced herself to look away from the time, and opened up her Calc II book - she'd tested out of Calc I, could have tested out of Calc II, but she'd thought maybe she might learn something new about solving linear inequalities, which had always been a problem for her.**

**"What the hell are you doing?" Shane. He was on the stairs, staring at her. She hadn't heard him coming, but that was probably because he was barefoot. His hair was a mess, too. Maybe he'd been asleep.**

**"Studying," she said.**

**"Huh," he said, like he'd never actually seen it done before. "Interesting." He vaulted over the railing three steps from the bottom and flopped down on the leather couch next to her, flicking the TV on with the remote next to him, then changing inputs. "This going to bother you?"**

**"No," she said politely. It was a lie, but she wasn't quite ready to be, you know, blunt. It was her first day.**

**"Great. Want to take a break?"**

**"A break?"**

**"That's when you stop studying" - he tilted his head to the side to look at the book - "okay, whatever the hell that is, and actually do something fun. It's a custom where I come from." He dumped something in the centre of her open book with a plastic thump. She flinched and picked up the wireless game controller with two fingers. "Oh, come on. You can't tell me you've never played a video game."**

**Truthfully, she had. Once. She hadn't liked it very much. He must have read that in her expression, because he shook his head. "This is just sad. Now you have to take a break. Okay, you've got a choice: horror, action, driving, or war."**

**She blurted, "Those are my choices?"**

**He looked offended. "What, you want girl games? Not in my house. Never mind, I'll pick for you. Here."**

**First-person shooter." He yanked a box from a stack next to the couch and loaded a disc into the machine. "Easy. All you have to do is pull the trigger. Trust me. Nothing like a little virtual violence to make you feel better."**

**"You're crazy."**

**"Hey, prove me wrong. Unless you think you can't." He didn't look at her as he said it, but she felt it sting, anyway. "Maybe you're just not up to it."**

**She shut her Calc II book, picked up the controller, and watched the colourful graphics load up on the screen. "Show me what to do."**

**He smiled slowly. "Point. Shoot. Try not to get in my way."**

**He was right. She'd always thought it was kind of creepy, hanging out in front of a TV and killing virtual monsters, but damn if it wasn't...fun. Before too long, she was flinching when things lunged out of the corners of the screen, and whooping just like Shane when some monster got put down for the count.**

**When it ended for her, and the screen suddenly showed a snarling zombie face and splashes of red, she felt it like an ice cube down her back.**

**"Oops," Shane said, and kept on firing. "Sorry. Some days you're the zombie, some days you're the meal. Good try kiddo."**

**She put the controller on the couch cushions, and watched him play for a while. "Shane?" she finally asked.**

**"Hang on - damn, that was close. What?"**

**"How did you get on Monica's -?"**

**"Shit list?" he supplied, and drilled a few dozen bullets into a lunging zombie in a prom dress.**

"**You don't have to do much, just not crawl on your belly every time she walks in a room." Which, she noticed, wasn't exactly an answer. Exactly. "What'd you do?"**

**"I, uh...I made her look stupid."**

**He hit some control and froze the game in mid-scream, and turned to look at her. "You what?"**

**"Well, she said this thing about World War II being about the Chinese, and -"**

**Shane laughed. He had a good laugh, loud and full of raw energy, and she smiled nervously in return.**

**"You're feistier than you look C. Good one." He held up a hand. She awkwardly smacked it. "Oh, man, that's sadder than the video game thing. Again."**

**Five hand smacks later, she had mastered the high five to his satisfaction, and he unfroze the video game.**

**"Shane?" she asked.**

**This time, he sighed. "Yeah?"**

**"Sorry, but - about your sister -"**

**Silence. He didn't look at her, didn't give any indication he'd heard a word. He just kept on killing things.**

**He was good at it.**

**Claire's nerve failed. She went back to her textbook. It didn't seem quite as exciting, somehow. After half an hour, she bagged it, stood, stretched, and asked, "When does Michael get up?"**

**"When he wants to." Shane shrugged. "Why?" He made a face and narrowly avoided getting his arm clawed off on-screen.**

**"I - I figured I might go back to the dorm and get my things."**

**He hit a button, and the screen paused in mid-shot again. "What?" He gave her his full attention, which made her heart stutter, then pound harder. Guys like Shane did not give mousy little bookworms like her their full attention. Not like that.**

**"My stuff. From my dorm room."**

**"Yeah, that's what I thought you said. Did you miss the part where the cops are looking for you?"**

**"Well, if I check in," she said reasonably, "I won't be missing anymore. I can say I slept over somewhere. Then they'll stop looking for me."**

**"That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard."**

**"No, it isn't. If they think I'm back in the dorm, they'll leave me to Monica, right? It could be a few days before she figures out I'm not coming back. She could forget about me by then."**

**"Claire - "He frowned at her for a second or two, then shook his head. "No way are you going over there by yourself."**

**"But - they don't know where I am. If you go with me, they'll know."**

**"And if you don't come back from the dorm, I'm the one who has to explain to Michael how I let you go off and get yourself killed like a dumbass. First rule of horror movies, C. - never split up."**

**"I can't just hide here. I have classes!"**

**"Drop 'em."**

**"No way!" The whole thought horrified her. Nearly as much as failing them.**

**"Claire! Maybe you're not getting this, but you're in trouble! Monica wasn't kidding when she pushed you down the stairs. That was light exercise for her. Next time, she might actually get mad."**

**She stood up and hoisted her backpack. "I'm going."**

**"Then you're stupid. Can't save an idiot," Shane said flatly, and turned back to his game. He didn't look at her again as he started working the controls, firing with a vengeance. "Don't tell them where you were last night. We don't need the hassle."**

**Claire set her jaw angrily, chewed up some words, and swallowed them. Then she went into the kitchen to grab some trash bags. As she was stuffing them into her backpack, she heard the front door open and close.**

**"A plague upon all our houses!" Eve yelled, and Claire heard the silver jingle of her keys hitting the hall table. "Anybody alive in here?"**

**"Yes!" Shane snapped. He sounded as mad as Claire felt.**

**"Damn," Eve replied cheerfully. "I was so hoping."**

**Claire came out of the kitchen and met Eve on her way up the hall. She was in plaid today - a red and black tartan skirt, black fishnet hose, clunky patent leather shoes with skulls on the toes, a white men's shirt, suspenders. And a floor-length black leather coat. Her hair was up in two pigtails, fastened with skull-themed bands. She smelled like...coffee. Fresh ground. There were some brown splatters on her shirtfront.**

**Oh, hey, Claire," she said, and blinked. "Where are you going?"**

**"Funeral," Shane said. On-screen, a zombie shrieked and died gruesomely.**

**"Yeah? Cool! Whose?"**

**"Hers." Shane said.**

**Eve's eyes widened. "Claire - you're going back?"**

**"Just for some of my stuff. I figure if I show up every couple of days, let people see me, they'll think I still live there..."**

**"Whoa, whoa, whoa, bad idea. Bad. No cookie. You can't go back. Not by yourself."**

**"Why not?"**

**"They're looking for you!"**

**Shane put the game on pause again. "You think I didn't already tell her that? She's not listening."**

**"And you were going to let her just go?"**

**"I'm not her mom."**

"Even though our mom wasn't that better" I heard Cairo say besides me then mother looked his way and Cruz started laughing and I continued reading.

"**How about just her friend?"**

**He gave her a look that pretty clearly said, shut up. Eve glared back, then looked at Claire. "Seriously. You can't just - it's dangerous. You have no idea. If Monica's really gone to her Patron and tagged you, you can't just, you know, wander around."**

**"I'm not wandering," Claire pointed out. "I'm going to my dorm, picking up some clothes, going to class, and coming home."**

**"Going to class?" Eve made helpless little flapping motions with her black-finger nailed hands. "No, no, no! No class, are you kidding?"**

**Shane raised his arm. "Hello? Pointed it out already."**

**"Whatever," Claire said, and stepped around Eve to walk down the hall to the front door. She heard Shane and Eve whispering fiercely behind her, but didn't wait.**

**If she waited, she was going to lose her nerve.**

**It was only a little after noon. Plenty of time to get to school, do the rest of her classes, stuff some clothes in a garbage bag, say enough hellos to make everything okay, and get home before dark. And it was after dark that was dangerous, right? If they were serious about the vampire thing.**

**Which she was starting to believe, just a teeny little bit.**

**She opened the front door, stepped out, closed it, and walked out onto the porch. The air smelled sharp and crisp with heat. Eve must have been cooking in that coat; there were ripples of hot air rising up from the concrete sidewalk, and the sun was a pale white dot in a washed-denim sky.**

**She was halfway to the sidewalk, where Eve's big car lurked, when the door slammed behind her.**

**"Wait!" Eve blurted, and came hurrying after with the leather coat flapping in the hot wind. "I can't let you do this."**

**Claire kept walking. The sun burned on the sore spot on her head, and on her bruises. Her ankle was still sore, but not enough to bother her that much. She'd just have to be careful.**

**Eve darted around her to face her, then danced backward when Claire kept walking. "Seriously. This is dumb, Claire, and you don't strike me as somebody with a death wish. I mean, I have a death wish - it takes one to know one - okay, stop! Just stop!" She put out a hand, palm out, and Claire stopped short just a few inches away. "You're going. I get that. At least let me drive you. You shouldn't be walking.**

**This way I can call Shane if - if anything happens. And at least you'll have somebody standing by."**

**"I don't want to get you guys into any trouble." Michael had been pretty specific about that.**

**"That's why Shane's not coming. He's - well, he attracts trouble like TV screens attract dust. Besides, it's better not to put him anywhere near Monica. Bad things happen." Eve unlocked the car doors. "You have to call shotgun."**

**"What?"**

**"You have to call shotgun to get the passenger seat."**

**"But nobody else is -"**

**"I'm just telling you, get used to the idea, because if Shane was here? He'd already have it and you'd be in the back."**

**"Um..." Claire felt stupid even trying to say it. "Shotgun?"**

**"Keep practicing. Got to be fast on the trigger around here."**

**The car had slick vinyl seats, cracked and peeling, and aftermarket seat belts that didn't feel any too safe.**

**Claire tried not to slide around on the upholstery too much as the big car jolted down the narrow, bumpy road. The shops looked as dim and uninviting as Claire remembered, and the pedestrians just as hunched in on themselves.**

**"Eve?" she asked. "Why do people stay here? Why don't they leave? If, you know...vampires."**

**"Good question," Eve said. "People are funny that way. Adults, anyway. Kids pick up and leave all the time, but adults get all bogged down. Houses. Cars. Jobs. Kids. Once you have stuff, it's easy enough for the vamps to keep you on a leash. It takes a lot to make people just leave everything behind and run.**

**Especially when they know they might not live long if they do. Oh crap, get down!"**

**Claire unhooked her seat belt and slithered down into the dark space under the dash. She didn't hesitate, because Eve hadn't been kidding - that had been pure panic in her voice. "What is it?" She barely dared to whisper.**

**"Cop car," Eve said, and didn't move her lips. "Coming right toward us. Stay down."**

**She did. Eve nervously tapped fingernails on the hard plastic steering wheel, and then let out a sigh.**

**"Okay, he went past. Just stay down, though. He might come back."**

**Claire did, bracing herself against the bumps in the road as Eve turned toward the campus. Another minute or two passed before Eve gave her the all clear, and she flopped back into the seat and strapped in.**

**"That was close," Eve said.**

**"What if they'd seen me?"**

**"Well, for starters, they'd have hauled me in to the station for interfering, confiscated my car..." Eve patted the steering wheel apologetically. "And you'd have just...disappeared."**

**"But -"**

**"Trust me. They're not exactly amateurs around here at making that happen. So let's just get this done and hope like hell your plan works, okay?"**

**Eve steered slowly through crowds of lunchtime students walking across the streets, hit the turnaround, and followed Claire's pointed directions toward the dorm.**

**Howard Hall didn't look any prettier today than it had yesterday. The parking lot was only half-full, and Eve cruised the big Caddy into a parking space near the back. She clicked off the ignition and squinted at the sunlight glaring off the hood. "Right," she said. "You go in, get your stuff, be back here in fifteen minutes, or I start launching Operation Get Claire."**

**Claire nodded. She wasn't feeling so good about this idea, now that she was staring at the door's entrance.**

**"Here." Eve was holding something out. A cell phone, thin and sleek. "Shane's on speed dial - just hit star two. And remember, fifteen minutes, and then I freak out and start acting like your mom. Okay?"**

**Claire took the phone and slipped it in her pocket. "Be right back."**

**She hoped she didn't sound scared. Not too scared, anyway. There was something about having friends - even brand-new ones - that helped keep the tremors out of her voice, and shakes out of her hands. I'm not alone. I have backup. It was kind of a new sensation. Kind of nice, too.**

**She got out of the car, waved awkwardly to Eve, who waved in reply, and turned to walk back into hell.**

"So what happened next" they all asked me which I just throw the book to Chester and he started to read.

"**chapter six…**


	6. SHANE!

_**Book: Glass House Chapter six**_

_**Chapter six **_

_**Chester's Pov: **_

_It felt strange reading to all of my siblings about my triplet sister about what had happened to her while we weren't around but I continued to read and Cruz seemed fine with it because she was playing with the brown haired boy. Gross. _

"**Chapter six… **

**The cold air of the lobby felt dry and lifeless, after the heat outside; Claire shivered and blinked fast to adjust her eyes to the relative dimness. A few girls were in the lobby with books propped up on tables; the TV was running, but nobody was watching it. **

**Nobody looked at her as she walked by. She went to the glassed-in attendant booth and the student assistant sitting inside looked up from her magazine, saw her bruises, and made a silent 0 with her mouth. **

'**Hi' Claire said. Her voice sounded thin and dry, and she had to swallow twice. 'I'm Claire, up on four? Um I had an accident yesterday. But I'm ok. Everything's fine.' **

'**You're the – they were looking for you, right?' **

'**Yeah. Just tell everybody I'm ok. I've got to get to class.' **

'**But-' **

'**Sorry. I'm late!' Claire hurried to the stairs and went up as fast as her sore ankle would allow. She passed a couple of girls, who gave her wide-eyed looks, but nobody said anything. **

**She didn't see Monica. Not on the stairs, not at the top. The hallway was empty, and all the doors were shut. Music pounded from three or four different rooms. She hurried down to the end where her own room was, and started to unlock it. **

**The knob turned limply in her fingers. **_**Great.**_** That, more than any graffiti said **_**Monica wuz here**_**. **

**Sure enough, the room was a wreck. What wasn't broken was dumped in piles. Books were defaced, which really hurt."**

_As I was reading I realised that most of those book were more likely to be from her former lives when she'd also lived with the other Danvers's in her past lives while the curse was upon her. She didn't like to talk about it but I knew it hurt her to think about what had happened and how weak this Claire was to the real deal the real Cruz my sister who was only three minutes older than me was the strongest Werewolf with body and mind and also her magic._

"**The rest was another pair of shoes, what books she could salvage, and the little bag of make-up and toiletries she kept on the shelf next to the bed. Her iPod was gone. So were her CD's. Not telling if that had been Monica's doing or the work of some other dorm tat who'd scavenged later. **

**She looked around swept the worst of the mess into a corner, and grabbed the photo of her mom and dad off of the dresser to take with her. **

**And then she left, not bothering to try to lock the door. **

**Well, she thought shakily. That went OK, after all. **

**She was halfway down the steps when she heard voices on the second-floor landing '- swear, it's her! You should see the black eye. Unbelievable. You really clocked her one' **

'**Where the hell is she?' Monica's voice, hard-edged. 'And how come nobody came to get me?' **

'**We – we did!' someone protested. Someone who sounded as scared as Claire suddenly felt. She reached in her pocket, grabbed the phone, and held on to it for security. **_**Star two. Just press star two – Shane's not far away and Eve's right downstairs…**_** 'She was up on her room. Maybe she's still there?' **

_**Crap**_**. There was nobody in the dorm she could trust, not now. Nobody who'd hide her, or who'd stand up for her. Claire retreated back up the steps to the third-floor landing and went to the fire stairs, flung open the door, and hurried down the concrete steps as fast as she dared, ducking to avoid the glass window at the second-floor exit. She made it to the lobby exit door sweating and trembling from the effort, with her backpack and the garbage bag dragging painfully on her sore muscles, and risked a quick look out the window to the lobby itself. **

**Monica-groupie Jennifer was on guard, watching the stairs. She looked tense and focused, and – Claire thought – a little scared, too. She kept fooling with the bracelet around her right wrist, turning it over and over. One thing was certain: Jenifer would see her the second she opened the door. And sure, maybe that wouldn't matter; maybe she could get by Jen and out the door and they wouldn't be attacking her in **_**public**_**, would they? **

**Watching Jennifer's face, she wasn't so sure. Not so sure at all. **

**The fire door a couple of floors up boomed open, and Claire flinched and looked for a place to hide. The only possible spot was under the concrete stairs. There was some kind of storage closet crammed under there, but when she tried the knob it was locked, and she didn't have Monica's lock-smashing superpowers. **

**And she didn't have time, anyway. There were footsteps coming down. Either she could hope the person didn't look back in the corner, or she could make a break for the door. Once again, Claire touched the phone in her pocket. **_**One phone call away. It's ok. **_**And once again, she left the phone where it was, took a deep breath, and waited. **

**It wasn't Monica, it was Kim Valdez, a freshmen like Claire. A band geek, which put her only a tiny step higher than Claire's statue as resident freak of nature."**

Mother looked angry at the fact that Cruz had put a human above herself but she was human back then so they wouldn't have known and neither would of Cruz but it was fine. I understood when you're an outcast in your own kind you have to try and see how you feel about yourself through other people's eyes one of the great gifts us Werewolves have.

"**Hey" she said. She pushed back the hood of her knit shirt, revealing short, shiny black hair. 'They're looking for you.'**

'**Yeah I know.' **

**Kim was holding her instrument case. Claire wasn't exactly clear on which instrument it was but it was big and bulky in its scuffed black case. Kim set it down. 'Monica do that?' she gestured at Claire's bruises. Claire nodded wordlessly. 'I always knew she was a bitch, so you need to get out of here?' **

**Claire nodded again, and swallowed hair. 'Will you help me?'**

'**Nope' Kim flashed her sudden, vivid grin. 'Not officially. Wouldn't be to smart.'**

**They had it worked out in a matter of frantic seconds; Claire zipped up in the shirt, pulled the hood down around her face, and held the instrument case by the handle. **

'**Higher' Kim advised. 'Tilt it so it covers your face. Yeah like that. Keep your head down.' **

'**What about my bags?' **

'**I'll wait a couple of minutes, then come out with 'em. Wait outside. And don't go nowhere with my cello, and I mean it. I'll kick your ass' **

'**I won't' she swore. Kim opened the door for her, and she took a gasping breath and barded out, head down, trying to look like she was late for rehearsals. **

**As she passes Jennifer, the girl gave her a reflexive glance, then dismissed her to focus back on the stairs. Claire felt a hot rush of adrenaline that, felt like it might set her face on fire, and resisted the urge to run the rest of the way for the door. It seemed to take forever, her crossing the lobby to the glass doors. **

**She was swinging the door open when she heard Monica say, 'That freak couldn't get out of here! Check the basement. Maybe she went down the trash chute, like her stupid laundry.' **

'**But-'Jen's feeble protest. 'I don't want to go down to the-' **

**She would, though. Claire suppressed a wild grin – mostly because it still hurt too much to do that – and made it out of the dorm. The sunlight felt amazing it felt like… safety. Claire took a deep breath of hot afternoon air, and walked around the corner to wait for Kim. The heat was brutal out against the sun-baked walls – suffocating. She squinted against the sun and saw the distant glitter of Eve's car, parked all the way at the back. Even hotter in there, she guessed, and wondered if Eve had got out of that Goth – required leather coat yet. **

**And just as she was thinking that, she saw a shadow fall across hers from behind and half turned, but it was too late. Something soft and dark muffled her vision and clogged her mouth and nose, and pressure around her head yanked her off balance. She screamed, or tried to, but somebody punched her in the stomach, which took care of the screaming and most of the breathing, and Claire saw a weak, watery sunshine through the weave of the cloth over her face, and shadows, and then everything got dark. Not that she fainted or anything like that, although, she was wanting to, badly."**

I could see the look on everyone else's faces they care about my sister so much but this Monica and her friends needed to pay for what they had done to my sister. _Don't think about it. She's already had to suffer for what she has done to other people and I didn't die like some people I'm one of the lucky ones. So please brother don't go off and I've said it to the rest. DON'T DO ANYTHING TO MONICA MORRELL. _That was my sister she had the gift of talking through your mind and she was shouting while I was reading the story to everyone else.

"**She had no idea where this room was. Some kind of storage room, maybe, in the basement. It was crammed with stuff – suitcases, boxes labelled with names, all kinds of things. Some of the boxes had collapsed and split out pale guts of old clothes. It smelt like moulding paper, and she sneezed helplessly when her fanatic gasps filled her mouth and nose with dust. **

**A couple of girls giggled. Most didn't do anything and didn't look very happy to be there, either. Resigned, Claire guessed. Glad it wasn't them lying on the floor. **

**Monica stepped out of the corner. **

'**Well' she said, and put her hands on her hips. 'Look what the cats dragged in.' she flashed Claire a cold toothpaste-ad smile, as if the rest of them weren't even here. 'You ran away, little mouse. And just when we were starting to have fun.' **

**Claire faked more sneezing, lots of it and Monica backed away in distaste. Faking sneezing, Claire discovered, wasn't easy as she'd thought. It hurt. But it provided, time and cover for her to pull the phone out of her pocket, cover it with her body, and frantically punch 2. **

**She pressed ****send**** and shoved it between it between two boxes, hoping the blue glow of the button wouldn't attract Monica's attention. Hoping Shane wouldn't be iPoding or Xboxing and ignoring the phone. **

**Hoping… **

**Just hoping. **

'**Oh, for God's sake. Get her up!' Monica ordered. Her Monickettes sprang forward, Jen taking one of Claire's arms, Gina the other. They hauled her up to her feet and held her there. **

**Monica pulled her hood back from Claire's bruised face and smiled again, taking in the damage. 'Damn, freak, you look like hell. Does it hurt?'**

'**What did I ever do to you?' Claire blurted. She was scared, but she was angry, too. Furious. There were seven girls standing around doi8ng **_**nothing **_**because they were scared, and of what? **_**Monica**_**. What the hell gave the Monica's the right to run the world? **

'**You know exactly what you did. You tried to make me look stupid,' Monica said. **

'_**Tried?'**_** Claire shot back, which was dumb. But she couldn't stop the impulse. It got her hit in her face. Hard. Right on top of the first bruise, which took away her breath in slow throbs of white-hot agony. **

**Everything felt funny, rattled by the impact of Monica's jab. Claire felt pressure on her arm, and realised that the Monickettes were holding her up. She put some stiffness back into her legs, opened her eyes, and glared at Monica. **

'**How come you live in Howard?' she asked." **

"I still want to know that? Why she lives in that hell hole." Said Cruz and Eve started laughing and Cruz started to smile. "Keep reading brother it's getting to the best part."

"**Monica, inspecting her knuckles for signs of bruising looked up in honest surprise. **

'**What?' **

'**Your family's rich, right? You could be living in an apartment? Or in a sorority house. How come you live in Howard Hall with the rest of us freaks?' she caught her breath at the sudden cold blaze in Monica's eyes. 'Unless you're a freak, too. A freak who gets off hurting somebody weaker than you. A freak your family's ashamed of. Somebody they hide here where they don't have to look at you.'"**

That was my sister always saying without thinking but her and the Eve girl high fived and the boys were laughing and me and Chelsea looked at each other. "Come on that was funny I mean the old Claire wouldn't have said that. That was me saying it not her." Cruz said and I would have to agree no way would this pathetic human say that but Cruz always got into trouble back in the old days as we were growing up. I continued to read the book.

"'**Shut up.' Jennifer hissed, low in her ear. 'Don't be stupid! She'll kill you – don't you get it?'**

**She jerked her head away. 'I head you went away to college.' Claire continued. Her stomach was rolling. She felt like she was going to puke and die, but all she had to do was stall for time. Shane would come. Eve would come. Maybe Michael. She could imagine Michael standing in the doorway with those ice- cold eyes and that angel's face, starring holes through Monica. Yeah that would rock. Monica wouldn't look so big then. 'What's the matter? Couldn't you cut it? I'm not surprised – anybody who thinks World War Two was in China isn't exactly going to impress-.'**

**She saw the punch coming this time, and ducked as best she could. Monica's fist smashed into her forehead, which hurt, but it must have hurt Monica a whole lot more, because she let out a shrill little scream and backed off, clutching her right hand in her left. That made the horrible throbbing in Claire's head almost OK. **

'**Careful' Claire gasped, nearly giggling. The scab on her lip had broken open, and she licked the blood from her lip. 'Don't break a nail! I'm not worth it, remember?' **

'**Got **_**that**_** right!' Monica snarled, 'let that bitch go. What are you waiting for? Go on, do it! Do you think that whips' going to hurt me?' **

**The Monickettes looked at each other, clearly wondering if their queen bee had lost her mind, then let go of Claire's arms and stepped back. Jennifer bumped into the towering column of boxes, spilling an avalanche of dust and old papers, but when Claire looked at her Jennifer was staring at a spot between the boxes. **

'**What the hell are **_**you**_** looking at?' Monica snarled at Jen, and Jen very deliberately turned her back on the incrimination phone, folded her arms, and stood there blocking it from view. Not looking at Claire at all. **_**Wow. That's**_**… what? Not lucky, exactly, Jennifer had shown some cracks already. And maybe she wasn't completely covert to the First Church of Monica. **

**Maybe Monica had just pissed her off one too many times. Not that she would be stepping in on Claire's side any time soon. **

**Claire wiped blood from her lip and looked at the other girls. The ones who were standing uneasy and undeceive. Monica had been challenged and, so far, hadn't exactly delivered the smack down everybody – Claire included – had expected. Kind of weird, really. Unless Claire really struck some nerve besides the ones running through Monica's knuckles. **

**Monica was rubbing her hand, looking at Claire as if she'd never seen her before. Assessing her. She said 'Nobody told you the fact of life, Claire. The fact is, if you suddenly just up and disappear…?' she jerked her pretty pointed chin at the dusty towers of boxes. 'Nobody but the janitor's ever going to know or care. You think Mummy and Daddy are going to get all upset? Maybe they would, but the time they spend their last dime putting your picture on milk cartons and chasing down rumours of how you ran off with somebody else's boyfriend? They're going to hate to even think about you. Morganville's got it down to science, making people disappear. They never disappear here. Always somewhere else.' **

**Monica wasn't taunting her. That was the scary part. She was talking, evenly, quietly as if they were two equals having a friendly conversation. **

'**You want to know why I live in Howard?' she continued. 'Because in this town, I can live anywhere I want. Any way I want. And you – you're just a walking organ donor. So take my advice, Claire. Don't get in my face, because if you do, you won't have one for long. Are we clear?' **

**Claire nodded slowly. She didn't dare look away. Monica reminded Claire of a feral dog, on that would jump for your throat the second you showed weakness. 'We're clear.' She said. 'You're kind of a psycho. I get that.'**

'**I might be.' Monica agreed, and gave her a slow, strange smile. 'You're one smart little freak. Now run away, smart little freak, before I change my mind and stick you in one of those old suitcases for some architect to find a hundred years from now.' **

**Claire blinked. 'Archaeologist.' **

**Monica's eyes turned winter cold. 'Oh you'd **_**better**_** start running away now.' **

**Claire went back to where Jennifer was standing, and reached behind her to drag the phone out from between the boxes. She held it up to Monica. 'Speak clearly for the microphone. I want to make sure my friends get every word.' **

**For a second, nobody moved, and then Monica laughed. 'Damn, freak. You're going to be fun.' She glared away from Claire, behind her. 'Not until I say so.' Claire looked over her shoulder. Gina was standing there **_**right there**_**, and she had some kind of metal bar in her hands. **

_**Oh my god**_**. There was something awful and cold in Gina's eyes. **

'**She'll get hers,' Monica said. 'And we'll get to watch. But hey, why hurry? I haven't had this much fun in years.' Claire's legs felt like they'd suddenly turned into over cooked spaghetti. She wanted to throw up, wanted to cry, and didn't date do anything but pretend to be brave. They'd kill her down here if they'd thought she was bluffing. **

**She was bluffing. **

**She walked past Gina, between two girls who wouldn't meet her eyes at all, and put her hand on the door knob. As she did, she glanced down at the phone's display. **

**No signal. **

**She opened the door, walked outside, and found her bags dumped on the grass, where she'd been abducted. She pocketed the phone and picked up the bags, and walked across the parking lot to Eve's car. Eve was still sitting in the driver's seat, looking clown pale and scared. **

**Claire tossed her bag in the back as Eve asked. 'What happened? They didn't see you?' **

'**No' Claire said. 'No problems. I've got class. I'll see you later. Eve. Um – here's your phone.' She passed it over. Eve took it, still frowning. 'I'll be home before dark.' **

'**Better be' Eve said. 'Seriously, Claire. You look- weird?' **

**Claire laughed. 'Me? Check the mirror.' **

**Eve flipped her off, but the same way she'd have flipped off Shane. Claire grabbed her backpack. Closed the door and watched Eve's big black car cruse away, heading back to work, she guessed." **

Eve and the boys looked at Cruz and she tried looking innocent. "So I lied about not having seen Monica not my fault, I didn't want to freak you guys out and anyway I didn't see her for the rest of the day." I kept reading as Shane I guess as I heard her whisper some disturbing promises into his ear.

"**She got halfway to her chem lab when her reaction hit her, and she sat down on a bench and cried silently into her hands. **

_**Oh my god. Oh my god. I want to go home!**_** She wasn't sure if that meant back to Michael's house or all the way home in her room with her parents watching over her. **

**I can't quit. She really couldn't. She never in her life had been able to, even when it might have been the smart thing to do. **

**She wiped her swollen eyes and went to class. **

**Nobody killed her that afternoon. **

**After the first couple of hours, she quit expecting it to happen, and focused on class. Her back-to-back labs weren't too much of a disaster and she actually knew the answer in history? Bet Monica **_**wouldn't,**_** she thought, and looked guiltily around the classroom to see if Monica was there, or any of her crew. It wasn't a big class. She didn't see anybody who'd been in the basement. **

**She made it to the grocery store after class without getting killed, too. Nobody jumped her while she was picking out lettuce and tomatoes, or while she was in line for check out. She thought the guy at the meat counter had looked suspicious though. **

**She walked back to the Glass House, watching for vampires in the fading afternoon and feeling pretty stupid for even thinking about it. She didn't see anybody except other college students, strolling along with bulging backpacks. Most of them travelled in bunches. Once she got past the area that catered to students, the stores were closed, lights off, and what few people were walking were hurrying. **

**At the corner of **_**Gone with the Wind**_** and **_**The Munsters**_**, the front gate was open. She closed it behind her, unlocked the door with the shiny new key that she'd found on her dresser that morning, and slammed the door behind her. **

**There was a shadow standing at the end of the hallway. A tall, broad shadow in grungy yellow T-shirt and low slung, faded jeans at the bottom. A shadow in bare feet. **

**Shane."**

"How could you tell that was me? It could have been Michael." Shane said and Cruz just seemed to think about that for a second.

"Because Michael only came out after dusk and you were the only one who didn't wear socks so we'd have to smell your horrible feet." She said and Eve and her started laughing and Michael seemed to fight it.

"Oh really so what about your breath in the mornings?" he shot back and Cruz seemed to think about it and kissed him powerful to shut him up.

"What were you saying?"

"Nothing"

It seemed I'd have to keep reading and did as I went everyone was looking at me and it seemed weird.

"**He just looked at her face for a few seconds, then said, 'Eve put your crap in your room.' **

'**Thanks'**

'**What's that?' **

'**Stuff for dinner.' **

**He cocked his head slightly, still staring at her. 'For a smart girl, you do some stupid things. You know that?' **

'**I know.' She walked towards him. He didn't move. **

'**Eve says you never saw Monica.' **

'**That's what I said.'**

'**You know what? I'm not buying it.' **

'**You know what?' she shot back. 'I don't care. Excuse me.' She ducked past him, into the kitchen, and set her bags down. Her hands were shaking. She balled them into fists and started setting out things on the counter. Ground beef. Lettuce. Tomatoes. Onions. Refried beans. Hot sauce, the kind she liked, anyway. Cheese. Sour cream. Taco shells. **

'**Let me guess,' Shane said from the doorway. 'You're making Chinese.' **

**She didn't answer. She was still too pissed and – all of a sudden – too scared. Scared of what, she didn't know. Everything. Nothing. Herself. **

'**Anything I can do?' his voice sounded different. Quitter, gentler, almost kind. **

'**Chop onions.' She said, although she knew that wasn't exactly what he meant. Still, he came over, picked up the onions, and grabbed a huge scary – looking knife from a drawer. 'You have to peel it first.' **

**He shot her a dirty look, just like he would Eve, and got to work. **

'**Um – I should probably call my mom,' Claire said. 'Can I use the phone?' **

'**You pay for long distance.' **

'**Sure.' **

**He shrugged, reached over, and grabbed the cordless phone, then pitched it under hand to her. She nearly dropped it, but was kin fog proud she didn't. She got out a big iron skillet from under the cabinet and put it on the counter, heated up the burner, and found some oil. As it was warming, she read over the thin little recipe book she'd bought at the store one more time, then dialled the phone. **

**Her mom answered on the second ring. 'Yes?' It was never **_**Hello **_**with her mother. **

'**Mom, its Claire.' **

'**Claire! Baby, where have you been? I've been trying to call you for days!' **

'**Classes,' she said. 'Sorry? I'm not home that much.' **

'**Are you sleeping enough? If you don't get enough rest, you'll get sick – you know how you are –' **

'**Mom I'm fine.' Claire frowned down at the recipe on the counter in front of her. What did **_**Sauté**_** mean, exactly? Was it like frying? **_**Diced**_**, she understood. That was just cutting things into cubes, and Shane was doing that already. 'Really. It's all ok now.' **

'**Claire, I know it's hard. We really didn't want you to go even just the few hundred miles to TPU, honey. If you want to come back home, your dad and I would be so glad to have you back!' **

'**Honestly, mom. I don't – I'm fine. It's ok. Classes are really good' – that was stretching the truth – 'and I've made friends here. They're looking out for me.' **

'**You're sure.' **

'**Yes, mom.' **

'**Because I worry. I know you're very mature for your age but –' **

**Shane opened his mouth to say something. Claire made frantic **_**NO NO NO**_** motions at him, pointing at the phone. **_**Mom!**_** She mouthed. Shane held up both hands in surrender and kept chopping. Mom was still talking. Claire had missed some of it, but she didn't think it really mattered exactly '-boys, right?' **

**Wow. Mom radar worked even this distance. 'What mom?'**

'**Your dorm doesn't allow boys to come up to the rooms, does it? There's someone on duty at the desk to make sure?' **

'**Yes mom. Howard Hall has somebody on duty twenty-four/seven to keep the nasty evil boys out of our rooms.' She hadn't actually lied, Claire decided. That was completely true. The fact that she wasn't actually **_**living**_** in Howard Hall… well, that wasn't really something she needed to throw in, right? **

'**It's not a laughing matter. You've been very sheltered Claire, and I don't want you to –' **

'**Mom I have to go. I need to eat dinner and I have a ton of studying to do. How's dad?' **

'**Dad's just fine, honey. He says hello. Oh, come on, Les, get up and say hello to your very smart daughter. It won't break your back.' **

**Shane handed her a bowl full of diced onions. Claire cradled the phone against her ear and dropped a handful of them into the pan. They started sizzling immediately much to her panic; she lifted the pan off the burner and almost dropped the phone. **

'**Hi kiddo. How are classes?' that was Dad. Not **_**How was your day**_**? Or **_**Have you made any friends?**_** No, his philosophy had always been, **_**Eyes on the prize; the other stuff just gets in your way.**_

**And she loved him anyway. 'Classes are great, Daddy.' **

'**Are you frying something? Do they let you have hot plates in the dorm? Didn't in my day. I can tell you…' **

'**Um… no, I just opened a Coke.' Ok that was a straight lie. She hastily put the pan down, walked to the fridge, and pulled out a Coke so she could open it. There. Retroactively truthful. 'How are you feeling?' **

'**Feel fine. Whish everybody would stop worrying about me, not like I'm the first man in history to have a little surgery.' **

'**I know, Daddy.' **

'**Doctors say I'm fine.' **

'**That's great.' **

'**Gonna have to go, Claire the games on. You're ok down there, aren't you?' **

'**Yes. I'm just fine Daddy –' **

'**What is it, honey?' **

**Claire bit her lip and sipped Coke indecisive, 'um… do you know anything about Morganville? History, that kind of thing?' **

'**Doing research, eh? Some kind of report? No, I don't know much. The university's been there nearly a hundred years – that's all I know about it. I know you're on fire to get to the bigger schools, but I think you need to spend a couple of years close to home. We talked all that.' **

'**I know. I was just wondering… it's an interesting town, that's all.'**

'**Ok, then. You let us know what you find out. Your mother wants to say goodbye.' Dad never did. By the time Claire got out. 'Bye, dad.' He was already gone, and mom was back on the line. 'Honey, you call us if you get worried about anything. Ok? Oh, call us whenever we love you!' **

'**Love you, too, mom. Bye!' **

**She put the phone down and stared at the sizzling onions, then the recipe. Then the onions turned transparent, she dumped in ground beef. **

'**So, finished lying to the folks?' Shane asked, and reached around Claire to snag a bite of grated cheese from the bowl on the counter. 'Tacos. Brilliant, damn, I'm glad I voted somebody in with skills.' **

'**I heard that, Shane!' Eve yelled from the living room, just as the door slammed. Shane winces. 'Do your own bathroom cleaning this weekend.' **

**Shane winced. 'Truce?' **

'**Thought so.' **

**Eve came in, still flushed from the heat outside. She'd sweated off most of her make-up, and underneath it, she looked surprisingly, young and sweet. 'Oh my god, that looks like real food!' **

'**Tacos,' Shane said proudly, as if it were his idea. Claire elbowed him in the ribs, or tried to. His ribs were a lot more solid than her elbow. 'Ow' he said. Not as if it hurt. **

**Claire glanced out the window. Night was falling fast, the way it did in Texas at the end of the day – furious burning sun all of a sudden giving away to a warm, sticky twilight. 'Is Michael here!' she asked. **

'**Guess so,' Shane shrugged. 'He's always here for dinner.' **

**The three got everything ready, and sometime midway, through the assembly-line process they'd developed – Claire putting meat in taco shells, Eve adding toppings, Shane spooning beans on to the plates – a fourth pair of hands added itself to the line. Michael looked as if he'd just got up and showered – wet hair, sleepy eyes, beads of water still sliding down to sock the collar of his black knit shirt. Like Shane, he was wearing jeans, but he'd gone formal, with actual shoes. **

'**Hey,' he greeted them. 'This looks good.' **

'**Claire did it,' Eve jumped in as Shane opened his mouth. 'Don't **_**even**_** let Shane take credit.' **

'**Wasn't going to!' Shane looked offended. **

'**Riiiiight.' **

'**I chopped. What did you do?' **

'**Cleaned up after you, like always.' **

**Michael looked over at Claire and made a face. She laughed and picked up her plate; Michael picked up his, and followed her out into the living room. **

**Someone – Michael she guessed – had cleared the big wood table next to the bookcase, and set up four chairs around it. The stuff that had been piled there – video games cases, books, sheet music – had been dumped in other places, with a cheerful disregard for order. (Maybe she amended, that had been Shane's idea.) She set her plate down, and Eve promptly slapped down her own next to Claire's and slid her cold coke across to her, along with a fork and napkin. Michael and Shane strolled back in, took seats, and began shovelling food like – well, like boys. Eve nibbled. Claire, who was surprisingly hungry found herself on her second taco before Eve had got through her first one. Shane was already head back for more. **

'**Hey dude,' he said as he returned with a reloaded plate. 'When are you going to get a gig again?' **

**Michael stopped chewing, flashed a look at Even, then Claire, and then finished the bite before saying, 'When I'm ready.' **

'**Pussy. You had a bad night, Mike. Get back on the horse or whatever.' Eve frowned Shane, and shook her head. **

**Shane ignored her. 'Seriously, man. You can't let them get you down.' **

'**I'm not,' Michael said. 'Not everything is about beating your head against the wall until it breaks.' **

'**Just most things.' Shane sighed. 'Whatever. You let me know when you want to stop hermitting.' **

'**I'm not hermitting. I'm practicing.' **

'**Like you don't play good enough. Please.' **

'**I get no respect,' Michael said. Shane, busy taking another crunchy bite, rubbed his thumb and forefinger together. 'Yeah, I know, world's smallest violin playing just for me. Change the subject. How was that hot date with Lisa, anyway? Rented shoes turn her on or what?' **

'**It's Laura,' Shane said. 'yeah, she was hot, all right, but I think she had the hots for you – kept saying how she saw you over at the Waterhouse last year and you were, all, like wow, amazing. It was like a ménage a trois only you weren't there, thank you god.' **

**Michael looked smug. 'Shut up and eat.' **

**Shane shot him the finger. **

**All in all, it was a pretty good time. **

**Michael and Eve washed dishes, having lost out on the coin toss, and Claire hovered in the living room, not sure what she wanted to do. Studying sounded… boring, which surprised her. Shane was concentrating on the video game selection, bare feet propped up on the coffee table. Without looking directly at Claire, he asked, 'You want to see something cool?' **

'**Sure,' she said, she expected him to put a game in, but he dumped it back on the pile, got up off the couch and padded up the stairs, she stood at the bottom, staring up, wondering what to do. Shane appeared at the top of the stairs again and gestured, and she followed. **

**The second floor was quiet, of course, and dimly lit; she blinked and saw Shane already halfway down the hall. Was he heading to her room? Not that she didn't have crazy hot pictures of her head of sitting on the bed with him, making out… yeah.**

**Shane moves a side a picture hanging on the wall between her room and Eve's, and pressed a button underneath. **

**And a door opened on the other side of the wall. It was built into the panelling, and she'd never have even known it was there. She gasped, and Shane beamed like he'd invented the wheel. 'Cool, huh? This damn house is full of crap like that. Trust me, in Morganville it pays to be up on the hiding places.' He pushed open the door, revealed another set of stairs, and padded up them. She expected them to be dusty, but they weren't, the used clean and polished. Shane's feet left prints of the ball of his foot and his toes. **

**It was a narrow pitch of just eight steps, half a story really, and there was another door at the top. Shane opened it and flipped on a switch just inside. 'First time I saw this, and the room back at the pantry, I figured, yep. Vampire house. What do you think?' **

**If she believed in vampires, he might have been right, it was a small room, no windows, and it was… old it wasn't just the stuff in it, which was antique, and dark; it had this sense of… something ancient something not quite right. And it was cold. Cold, in the middle of a Texas heat wave. **

**She shivered. 'Does everybody know about this room?' **

'**Oh yeah. Eve says it's haunted. Can't really blame her. It creeps me the hell out, too. Cool though. We'd have stuck you in here when the cops come, only they'd have seen you through the windows coming out of the kitchen. They're nosy bastards.' Shane wondered across the think Persian carpet to flop on the dark red Victorian couch. Dust rose in a cloud, and he waved it off, coughing. 'So what do you think? Think Michael sleeps off his evil undead days in here, or what?'"**

"Thanks man glad even back then you were still thinking that." Michael said to Shane who seemed hurt by his outburst and Cruz said. "Michael listen to the rest he had his reasons for asking me that." I was still reading so I could still hear them

"'**I- I don't think anything!' **

**Shane nodded, eyes downcast. 'Right. You weren't sent here.' **

'**Sent – sent here by who?' **

'**I got to thinking… The cops were looking for you, but maybe they were looking for you to make us want to keep you here, instead of pitching you out, so which is it? Are you working for them?' **

'**Them?' She echoed thinly. 'Them who?' Shane suddenly looked at her, and she shivered again. He wasn't like Monica,"**

Shane snorted. "Of course I'm not like that bitch. Sorry keep reading."

"**not at all, but he wasn't playing around, either. 'Shane, I don't know what you mean. I came to Morganville to go to school, and got beaten up, and I came here because I was scared. If you don't believe me – well, then I guess I'll go. Hope you like the tacos.' **

**She went to the door, and stopped, confused. **

**There wasn't a doorknob. **

**Behind her, Shane said quietly. 'Th reason I think this is a vampire room? You can't get out of it unless you know the secret. That's real convenient, if you like to bring victims up here for a little munch session.' **

**She swirled around, expecting to see him standing there with that huge knife he'd used on the onions, and she'd broken the first rule of horror movies, hadn't she, or was it the second? She trusted someone she shouldn't have…"**

"Thanks a lot really you think I'd do that?" Shane spat out and Cruz just smiled sweetly.

"Well that was then, I don't know and you heard what it said I watched too many horror movies."

"**but he was still sitting on the couch, slumped at ease, arms flung over the back on both sides. **

**Not even looking at her. **

'**Let me out,' she said. Her heart was hammering. **

'**In a minute. First, tell me the truth.' **

'**I **_**have**_**!' And, to her fury and humiliation, she started to cry. Again. **

Michael and Eve both throw a pillow at Shane because he'd made my sister cry but it was because they cared about her. 

**He looked at her then, and she saw the hardness melt away. His voice was lot gentler when he spoke. 'And if I was somebody who wanted to kill Michael, I'd put somebody like you into do it. be real easy for you to kill somebody. Claire. Poison some food, slip a knife in his back.. and I have to look out for Michael.' **

'**I thought he looked out for you,' she wiped angrily at her eyes. 'why do you think somebody wants to kill him?' **

**Shane raised his eyebrows. 'always somebody wanting to kills a vampire.' **

'**But – he's not. Eve said –' **

'**Yeah, I know he's not a vampire, but he doesn't get up during the day, he doesn't go out of the house, and I can't get him to tell me what happened so he might as well be. And somebody's going to think so, sooner or later. Most people in Morganville are either protected or clueless – kind of like you can raise rabbits for either pets or meat. But some of them fight back.' **

**She blinked the last of the brief storm of tears away. 'Like you?' **

**He cocked his head to one side. 'Maybe. How about you? You a fighter, Claire?' **

'**I'm not working for anybody. And I wouldn't kill Michael even if he was a vampire.' **

**Shane laughed. 'Why not? Besides the facts that he'd snap you in two like a twig if he was.' **

'**Because – because –'She couldn't put it into words, exactly. 'Because I like him.' **

**She watched her for another few, long seconds, and then pressed a raised spot on the head of the lion – carving arm rest of the couch. **

**The door opened a little and popped open half an inch. **

'**Good enough for me,' he said. 'So, Dessert?' **

Shane it seemed to me always thought about his stomach. The night sky was in the sky and the two humans and vampire went upstairs and Cruz hugged us all good night as we changed into our wolf forms to sleep in the garden.


	7. Sorry needed Aurthor notes

_**Sorry needed: **_

This is to help you understand who the characters are, age, and what they look like.

**Member**

**Name**

**Age **

**looks**

**Wears **

**Mother**

Cali Archer

1500 years old

Shoulder length brown hair, brown eyes, tanned.

Skinny jeans with flowers on and tight white top with brown over coat, black high heels.

**Father**

Caelan Archer

1600 years old

Longish black hair, black eyes and pale.

Black shirt, white suit, black shoes.

**Brother one**

Cade Archer

800 years old

Short black hair, brown eyes, pale.

Blue top, black trousers and boots.

**Brother two**

Cain Archer

795 years old

Longish black hair with white strips in fringe and brown eyes and tanned.

Black suit with blue shirt and black tie and snickers.

**Brother three**

Cairo Archer

750 years old

Longish brown curly hair, black eyes and tanned.

White suit with black shirt and shoes.

**Brother four **

Caleb Archer

750 years old

Longish brown curly hair, black eyes and tanned.

White suit with black shirt and shoes.

**Brother five**

Carter Archer

700 years old

Short black hair, brown eyes and tanned.

Blue suits, black shirts and white ties, black shoes.

**Brother six**

Cayden Archer

700 years old

Short black hair, brown eyes and tanned.

Blue suits, black shirts and white ties, black shoes.

**Brother seven**

Chester Archer

680 years old

Longish brown hair, brown eyes and pale.

Black tops, black jeans and boots.

**Sister one**

Cadence Archer

800 years old

Long ponytail black hair, brown eyes, pale.

Blue top, black trousers and grey high heels.

**Sister two**

Caitlin Archer

795 years old

Longish black hair with white strips in fringe and brown eyes and tanned.

Black suit with pink shirt and black tie and snickers.

**Sister three**

Calleigh Archer

750 years old

Long curly hair, black eyes and tanned.

Black and white dress and black heels.

**Sister four**

Caoimhe Archer

750 years old

Long curly hair, black eyes and tanned.

Black and white dress and black heels.

**Sister five**

Celyn Archer

700 years old

Long brown hair, brown eyes and tanned.

White top, pink skirt and heels.

**Sister six**

Cruz Archer

680 years old

Long brown hair, brown eyes and pale.

White top, white jeans and boots.

**Sister seven**

Chelsea Archer

680 years old

Long brown hair, brown eyes and pale.

Grey top, grey jeans and boots.

**Claire's boyfriend **

Shane Collins

19 years old

Longish brown hair, brown eyes and tanned.

Band t-shirts and baggy jeans and trainers.

**Claire's best friend**

Eve Glass

18 years old

Long dyed black hair, blue eyes and fake pale.

Gothic clothing and shoes.

**Claire's vamp friend**

Michael Glass

19 years old

Longish curly hair, blue eyes and pale.

Shirts of all colours, jeans and boots.

**Enemy **

Monica Morrell

19 years old

Long blond hair, brown eyes and tanned.

Short tops, skirts, shorts and high heels.


	8. Why didn't you help?

_**Book: Glass House Chapter seven **_

_**Chapter seven**_

_**Brother Caleb POV: **_

It was early morning when my brothers and I and our sisters walked into the house and to the smell of bacon, eggs and meat. Raw meat. It was Shane, Eve and Cruz in the kitchen and there was a lot of meat. "Who is all this for?" Cairo asked. Our sister gave him the "_don't be stupid look". _We sat around the table – well as many who would fit – and began to eat as Michael came into the kitchen and stopped as if he'd forgotten who we were.

"So are we going to read the rest of the book today?" I asked because it seemed to be getting interesting.

"Sure if you want we can after everyone's finished eating their breakfast." Said Cruz. It seemed everyone wanted to hear about the rest and kept on eating as fast a lightning. And after we'd all eaten we went into the living room and sat around waiting for someone to read the book. "How about Cain you read the book, if you know how to read?" Cain gave Cruz a deadly look as she said that and he picked up the book and started to read.

"**Chapter seven…**

**She couldn't sleep.**

**Maybe it was the memory of that creepy little Gothic room - which she suspected Eve really, deeply loved - but all of a sudden, her lovely cosy room seemed full of shadows, and the creaks of old wood in the wind sounded...stealthy. Maybe the house eats people," **

_That was funny, Cruz always said silly things but as Cain was reading it just seemed stupid coming from Cruz who was so intelligent than the rest of us even though we'd lived longer than her. _

**She heard a soft, silvery note, and knew that Michael was playing downstairs. Something about that helped - pushed the shadows back, turned the sounds into something normal and soothing. It was just a house, and they were just kids sharing it, and if there was anything wrong, well, it was outside."**

"So how good was I then for you to come investigating and finding out my secret?" asked Michael and Cruz looked at him thoughtfully.

"Well you had some work to do but now you're a lot better than you were then." She replied, she started to laugh and Michael looked hurt. "Don't worry Mike you were amazing."

"**She must have slept then, but it didn't feel like it; some noise startled her awake, and when Claire checked the clock next to her bed it was close to five thirty. The sky wasn't light outside, but it wasn't totally dark, either; the stars were faded, soft sparkles in a sky gradually turning dark blue.**

**Michael's guitar was still going, very quietly. Didn't he ever sleep?**

**Claire slid out of bed, tossed a blanket over her shoulders over the T-shirt she wore to bed, and shuffled out and into the still-dark hallway. As she passed the hidden door she glanced at it and shivered, then continued on to the bathroom. Once she'd gotten that out of the way - and brushed her hair - she crept quietly down the steps and sat down, blanket around her, listening to Michael play.**

**His head was down, and he was deep into it; she watched his fingers move light and quick on the strings, his body rock slowly with the rhythm, and felt a deep sense of...safety. Nothing bad could happen around Michael. She just knew it.**

**Next to him, a clock beeped an alarm. He looked up, startled, and slapped it off, then got up and put his guitar away. She watched, puzzled... Did he have someplace to be? Or did he actually have to set an alarm to go to bed? Wow, that was obsession...**

**Michael stood, watching the clock as if it were his personal enemy, and then he turned and walked over to the window.**

**The sky was the colour of dark turquoise now, all but the strongest stars faded. Michael, holding a beer in his hand, drank the rest of the bottle and put it down on the table, crossed his arms, and waited.**

**Claire was about to ask him what he was waiting for when the first ray of sun crept up in a blinding orange knife, and Michael gasped and hunched over, pressing on his stomach.**

**Claire lunged to her feet, startled and afraid for the look of sheer agony on his face. The movement caught his attention, and he jerked his head toward her, blue eyes wide.**

**"No," he moaned, and pitched forward to his hands and knees, gasping. "Don't."**

**She ignored that. **

**And jumped down the stairs to run to his side, but once she was there she didn't know what to do, didn't have any idea how to help him. Michael was breathing in deep, aching gasps, in terrible pain.**

**She put her hand on his back, felt his fever-hot skin burning through the thin cloth, and heard him make a sound like nothing she'd ever heard in her life.**

**Like someone dying, she thought in panic, and opened her mouth to scream for Shane, Eve, anybody.**

**Her hand suddenly went right through him. The scream, for whatever reason, locked tight in her throat as Michael - transparent Michael - looked up at her with despair and desperation in his eyes.**

**"Oh, God, don't tell them." His voice came from a long, long way off, a whisper that faded on the shafts of morning sun.**

**And so did he.**

**Claire, mouth still open, utterly unable to speak, waved her hand slowly through the thin air where Michael Glass had been standing. Slowly, then faster. The air felt cold around her, like she was standing in a blast from an air conditioner, and the chill slowly faded**

**Like Michael.**

**"Oh my God," she whispered, and clapped both hands over her mouth.**

**And muffled the scream that she had to let out or explode.**

**She might have blacked out a little, because next thing she knew, she was sitting on the couch, next to Michael's guitar case, and she felt kind of funny. Bad funny, as if her brain had turned liquid and sloshed around in her head.**

**Weirdly calm, though. She reached over and touched the leather cover of his guitar case. It felt real.**

**When she flipped up the latches and pulled her shaking fingers across the strings, they made a wistful sort of whisper.**

**He's a ghost. Michael's a ghost.**

**He wasn't a ghost. How could he be a ghost, if he sat here - right here! - At the table and ate dinner?**

**Tacos! What kind of ghost ate tacos? What kind of...?**

**Her hand went right through him. Right through him.**

**But he was real. She'd touched him. She'd -**

**Her hand went right through him.**

**"Don't panic," she said numbly, out loud. "Just...don't panic. There's some explanation..." Yeah, right.**

**She'd stumble over to Professor Wu's physics class and ask. She could just imagine how that would go over. They'd toss a net over her and pump her full of Prozac or whatever.**

**He'd said, Oh, God, don't tell them. Tell who? Tell...? Was he gone? Was he dead?**

**She was about carried away by panic again, and then something stopped it cold. Something silly, really.**

**The alarm clock sitting on the table next to the sofa. The one that had gone off just a few minutes ago.**

**The one that had warned Michael that sunrise was coming.**

**This happens...every day. He hadn't acted like it was odd, just painful.**

**Shane and Eve had both said that Michael slept days. They were both night owls; they were sound asleep right now, and wouldn't be up for hours yet. Michael could have...disappeared...daily like this with nobody paying attention.**

**Until she came along, and got nosy.**

**Don't tell them. Why not? What was so secret?**

**She was crazy. That was the only rational explanation. But if she was crazy, she wasn't rational...**

**Claire curled up on the sofa, shivering, and felt cold air brush over her again. Ice-cold. She sat up.**

**"Michael?" she blurted, and sat very still. The chill went away, then brushed over her again.**

"Why'd you do that it's not like he could talk to you." said Chester as Cain stopped reading and it was funny she used the old language to get him to shut up and Cain continued to read.

**"I - I think I can feel you. Are you still here?" Another second or two without the icy draft, and then it drifted across her skin. "So - you can see us?" Yes, she figured, since the warm-cold cycle repeated. "You don't go away during the day? Oh - um, stay where you are if it's no, okay?" The chill stayed steady. "Wow.**

**That's - harsh." A yes, and weirdly, she felt a little cheered. Okay, she was having a conversation with a breeze, but at least she didn't feel alone. "You don't want me to tell Shane and Eve?" Clearly, a no. If anything, it got colder. "Is there anything - anything I can do?" Also a no. "Michael - will you come back?" Yes. "Tonight?" Yes, again. "We are so going to talk."**

**The chill withdrew completely. Yes.**

**She collapsed back on the sofa, feeling giddy and strange and exhausted. There was a ratty old blanket piled near the guitar case; she carefully moved the instrument over to the table (and imagined an invisible Michael following her anxiously the whole way), then wrapped herself in the blanket and let herself drift off into sleep, with the ticking of the grandfather clock and memories of Michael's guitar as a soundtrack.**

**That day, Claire went to class. Eve argued with her; Shane didn't. Nothing much happened, although Claire spotted Monica twice on campus. Monica was surrounded by admirers, both male and female, and didn't have time for grudges. Claire kept her head down and stayed out of any deserted areas. It was an early afternoon for her - no labs - and although she wanted to get home and wait around for Michael to show up (and boy, she wanted to see how that happened!) she knew she'd drive herself crazy, and make Shane suspicious.**

**As she walked in that general direction, she spotted the small coffee shop, wedged in between the skateboard shop and a used-book store. Common Grounds. That was where Eve worked, and she'd said to stop by...**

**The bell rang with a silvery tinkle as Claire pushed open the door, and it was like walking into the living room of the Glass House, only a little more Gothic. Black leather sofas and chairs, thick colourful rugs, accent walls in beige and blood red, lots of nooks and crannies. There were five or six students scattered at cafe tables and built-in desks. None looked up from their books or computers. The whole place smelled like coffee, constant simmering warmth.**

**Claire stood for a second, indecisive, and then walked over to an empty desk and dumped her backpack before going to the counter. There were two people behind the waist-high barrier. One was Eve, of course, looking perky and doll-like with her dye-dark hair in two pigtails, eyes rimmed with liner, and lipstick a dramatic Goth black. She was wearing a black mesh shirt over a red camisole, and she grinned when she spotted Claire.**

**The other was an older man, tall, thin, with greying curly hair that fell nearly to his shoulders. He had a nice, square face, wide dark eyes, and a ruby earring in his left ear. Hippie to the core, Claire guessed.**

**He smiled, too.**

**"Hey, it's Claire!" Eve said, and hurried around the counter to slip her arm around Claire's shoulders.**

**"Claire, this is Oliver. My boss."**

**Claire nodded hesitantly. He looked nice, but hey, a boss. Bosses made her nervous, like parents.**

**"Hello, sir."**

**"Sir?" Oliver had a deep voice, and an even deeper laugh.**

"Really Oliver actually laughed at something?" Shane said which sounded like it was unlikely to ever happen.

**"Claire, you've got to learn about me. I'm not a sir. Believe me."**

**That's true." Eve nodded wisely. "He's a dude. You'll like him. Hey, want a coffee? My treat?"**

**"I - uh -"**

**"Don't touch the stuff, right?" Eve rolled her eyes. "One non-coffee drink, coming up. How about hot cocoa? Chai? Tea?"**

**"Tea, I guess."**

**Eve went back behind the counter and did some stuff, and within a couple of minutes, a big white cup and saucer appeared in front of Claire, with a tea bag steeping in the steaming water. "On the house, well, actually, on me, because, yikes, boss is right here."**

**Oliver, who was working on some complicated machine that Claire guessed, was something that made cappuccino, shook his head and grinned to himself. Claire watched him curiously. He looked a little bit like a distant cousin she'd met from France - the same kind of hook nose, anyway.**

**She wondered if he'd been a professor at the university, or just a perpetual student. Either looked possible.**

**"I heard you had some trouble," Oliver said, still concentrating on unscrewing parts on the machine.**

**"Girls in the dorm."**

**"Yeah," she admitted, and felt her cheeks burn. "Everything's okay, though."**

**"I'm sure it is. Listen, though: if you have trouble like that, you come here and tell me about it. I'll make sure it stops."**

**He said it with absolute assurance. She blinked, and his dark eyes moved to rest on hers for a few seconds. "I'm not without influence around here. Eve tells me that you're very gifted. We can't have some bad apples driving you off."**

**"Um...thanks?" She didn't mean to make it a question; it just came out that way. "Thanks. I will."**

**Oliver nodded and went back to his work dissecting the coffeemaker. Claire found a seat not far away.**

**Eve slipped out from behind the counter and pulled up a chair next to her, leaning forward, all restless energy. "Isn't he great?" she asked. "He means it, you know. He's got some kind of pipeline to - "She made a V sign with her fingers. V, for vampires. "They listen to him. He's good to have on your side."**

**Claire nodded, dunking the tea bag and watching the dark stains spread through the water. "You talk about me to everybody?"**

**Eve looked stricken. "No! Of course I don't! I just - well, I was worried. I thought maybe Oliver knew something that...Claire, you said it yourself - they tried to kill you. Somebody ought to be doing something about that."**

**"Him?"**

**"Why not him?" Eve jittered her leg, tapping the thick heel on her black Mary Jane's. Her hose had green and black horizontal stripes. "I mean, I get that you're all about being self-sufficient, but come on. A little help never hurts."**

**She wasn't wrong. Claire sighed, took the tea bag out, and sipped the hot drink. Not bad, even on a blazing-hot day.**

**"Stay," Eve said. "Study. It's a really good place for that. I'll drive you home, okay?"**

**Claire nodded, suddenly grateful; there were too many places to get lost on the way home, if Monica had noticed her after all. She didn't like the idea of walking three blocks between the student streets, where things were bright and busy, and the colourless hush of the rest of the town, where the Glass House lived.**

**She put the tea to one side and unpacked books. Eve went back to take orders from three chattering girls wearing sorority T-shirts. They were rude to her, and giggled behind her back. Eve didn't seem to notice - or if she did, she didn't care.**

**Oliver did. He put down the tools he was using, as Eve bustled around getting drinks, and stared steadily at the girls. One by one, they went quiet. It wasn't anything he did, exactly, just the steadiness of the way he watched them.**

**When Eve took their money, each one of the girls meekly thanked her and took her change.**

**They didn't stay.**

**Quadratic equations were a great way to pass the afternoon.**

**Eve's shift ended at nine, just as the nightlife at Common Grounds picked up; Claire, not used to the babble, chatter, and music, couldn't keep her mind on her books anyway. She was glad of an excuse to go when Eve's replacement - a surly-looking pimpled boy about Shane's age - took her place behind the counter. Eve went in the back to get her stuff, and Claire packed up her backpack.**

**"Claire." She looked up, startled that somebody remembered her name other than, well, people who wanted to kill her, and saw Kim Valdez, from the dorm.**

**"Hey, Kim," she said. "Thanks for helping me out -"**

**Kim looked mad. Really mad. "Don't even start! You left my cello just lying around out there! Do you have any idea how hard I worked for that thing? Way to be an asshole!"**

**"But - I didn't -"**

**"Don't lie. You bugged out somewhere. Hope you got your bags and crap. I left them out there just like you left my stuff." Kim jammed her hands in her pockets and glared at her. "Don't ask me for any favours again. Right?"**

**She didn't wait for an answer, just moved off toward the counter. Claire sighed. "I won't," she said, and zipped the backpack. She waited for a few minutes, but the crowd was getting thicker, and Eve was nowhere in sight. She stood up, stepped out of the way of a group of boys, and backed into a table in the shadowy corner.**

**"Hey," a voice said softly. She looked back and saw a coffee cup tipping over, and a pale, long-fingered hand catching it before it did. The hand belonged to a young man - she couldn't really call him a boy - with thick dark hair and light-coloured eyes, who'd, claimed the table when she wasn't looking."**

Oh boy that didn't sound too good. "Let me guess it was him the snake in the dark?" asked Shane and Cruz nodded.

"So who'd this snake?" asked Cairo he was reading the book why didn't he know?

"Oh you'll see just keep reading on its getting better." Cruz replied. He started reading again.

**"Sorry," she said. He smiled at her and licked a couple of drops of coffee from the back of his hand with a pale tongue.**

**She felt something streak hot down her backbone, and shivered. He smiled wider.**

**"Sit," he said. "I'm Brandon. You?"**

**"Claire," she heard herself say, and even though she didn't intend to, she sat, backpack thumping on the floor beside her. "Um, hi."**

**"Hello." His eyes weren't just light; they were pale - a shade of blue so faint it was almost silver.**

**Scary-cool. "Are you here alone, Claire?"**

**"I - no, I - ah - " She was babbling like an idiot, and didn't know what was wrong with her. The way he was looking at her made her feel naked. Not in a secretly cool, wow-I-think-he-likes-me way, but in a way that made her want to hide and cover herself. "I'm here with a friend."**

**"A friend," he said, and reached across to take her hand. She wanted to pull it back - she did - but somehow she couldn't get control of herself. All she could do was watch as he turned her hand palm down, and brought it to his mouth to kiss. The warm, damp pressure of his lips on her fingers made her shiver all over.**

**Then he brushed his thumb across her wrist. "Where is your bracelet, little Claire? Good girls wear their bracelets. Don't you have one?"**

**"I -" There was something sick and terrible happening in her head, something that made her tell the truth.**

**"No. I don't have one." Because she knew now what Brandon was, and she was sorry she'd laughed at Eve, sorry she'd ever doubted any of it.**

**You'll get yours, Monica had promised.**

**Well, here it was.**

**"I see." Brandon's eyes seemed to get even paler, until they were pure white with tiny black dots for pupils. She couldn't breathe. Couldn't scream. "The only question is who will have you, then. And since I'm here first -"**

**He let go of her, both her hand and her mind, and she fell backward with a breathless little gasp.**

**Somebody was standing behind her chair, a solid warmth, and Brandon was frowning and staring past her.**

**"You offend my hospitality," Oliver said, and put his hand on Claire's shoulder. "You ever bother my friend Claire in here again, Brandon, and I'll have to revoke the privileges for everyone. Understand? I don't think you want to be explaining that."**

**Brandon looked furious. His eyes were blue again, but as Claire watched, he snarled at Oliver, and revealed fangs. Real, genuine fangs, like a snake's, that snapped down into place from some hidden spot inside of his mouth, and then back up again, quick as a scorpion's sting.**

**"None of that," Oliver said calmly. "I'm not impressed. Off with you. Don't make me have a conversation with Amelie about you."**

**Brandon slid out of his chair and slouched away through the crowd, toward the exit. It was dark outside now, Claire noticed. He went out into the night and disappeared from sight.**

**Oliver still had his hand on her shoulder, and now he squeezed it gently. "That was unfortunate," he said.**

**"You need to be careful, Claire. Stay with Eve. Watch out for each other. I'd hate to see anything happen to you."**

**She nodded, gulping. Eve came hurrying out of the back, leather coat flapping around her ankles. Her smile died at the sight of Claire's face. "What happened?"**

**"Brandon came in," Oliver said. "Trolling. Claire happened to run into him."**

**"Oh," Eve said in a small voice. "Are you okay?"**

**"She's fine. I spotted him before any permanent damage was done. Take her home, Eve. And keep a sharp eye out for that one; he doesn't take being ordered off very well."**

**Eve nodded and helped Claire to her feet, picked up the backpack, and got her outside. The big black Caddy was parked at the curb, and Eve unlocked it and thoroughly checked it over, backseat and trunk, before putting Claire inside of it. When Claire was fastening the seat belt, she noticed two things: first, Oliver was standing in the doorway of Common Grounds, watching them.**

**Second, Brandon was standing at the corner, in the very edge of the glow of the streetlamp. And he was watching them, too.**

**Eve saw, too. "Son of a bitch," she said furiously, and shot him the finger. Which might not have been too smart, but it made Claire feel better. Eve cranked the engine and squealed out of her parking space, driving like she was breaking the record at a NASCAR race, and screeched to a halt in front of the house just a couple of minutes later. "Okay, you go first," she said. "Run for the door, bang on it while you're opening it. Go, Claire!"**

**Claire bailed out breathlessly and slammed the gate back, pounded up the paved walk and up the stairs as she was digging her key out of her pocket. Her hands were shaking, and she missed the keyhole on the first try. She kicked the door and yelled, "Shane! Michael!" as she tried again.**

**Behind her, she heard the car door slam, and Eve's shoes clatter on the sidewalk...and stop.**

**"Now," said Brandon's low, cold voice, "let's not be rude, Eve."**

**Claire whirled, and saw Eve standing absolutely still ten steps from the porch, her back to the house. Hot wind whipped her leather coat behind her with a dry snapping sound.**

**Brandon was facing her, his eyes completely white in the pale starlight.**

**"Who's your sweet little friend?" he asked.**

**"Leave her alone." Eve's voice was faint and shaking. "She's just a kid."**

**"You're all just kids." He shrugged. "Nobody asks the age of the cow that gave you the hamburger."**

**Claire, purely terrified now, concentrated, turned back to the door, and rammed the key into the lock just as Shane whipped it open.**

**"Eve!" she gasped and Shane pushed her out of the way, jumped down the steps, and got between Eve and Brandon.**

**"Inside," Michael said. Claire hadn't heard him, hadn't seen him coming, but he was in the doorway, gesturing her in. As soon as she was over the threshold he grabbed her arm and pushed her out of sight behind him. She peeked around him to see what was happening.**

**Shane was talking, but whatever he was saying, she couldn't hear it. Eve was backing up, slowly, and when the back of her heels touched the porch steps she whirled and ran up, diving into the doorway and Michael's arms.**

**"Shane!" Michael shouted."**

"Why didn't you help them what kind of friend are you?" that was Celyn she had a big mouth that wasn't always too good for her.

"Shut up he couldn't help us he was stuck in the house because he was a ghost." Cruz shouted.

"**Brandon lunged at Shane. Shane dodged, yelled, and kicked the vampire with all his weight. Brandon flew backward into the fence, broke through, and rolled into the street.**

**Shane fell flat on the ground, scrambled up, and ran for the door. It was impossible for Brandon to move that fast, but the vampire seemed to flash from lying in the street to reaching for Shane's back...**

**...and grabbed hold of Shane's T-shirt, yanking him to a sudden stop. But Shane was reaching, too, for Michael's hand, and Michael pulled him forward.**

**The shirt ripped, Shane stumbled in over the threshold, and Brandon tried to follow. He bounced off an invisible barrier, and for the second time Claire saw his fangs snap down, deadly sharp.**

**Michael didn't even flinch. "Try it again, and we'll come stake you in your sleep," he said. "Count on it.**

**Tell your friends."**

**He slammed the door. Eve collapsed against the wall, panting and trembling; Claire couldn't stop shaking, either. Shane looked flushed and more worried about the damage to his T-shirt than anything else.**

**Michael grabbed Eve by the shoulders. "You okay?"**

**"Yeah. Yeah, he never - wow. That was close."**

**"No kidding. Claire?"**

**She waved, unable to summon up a word.**

**"Where the hell did he come from?" Shane asked.**

**"He picked up Claire's scent at the coffee shop," Eve said. "I couldn't shake him. Sorry."**

**"Damn. That's not good."**

**"I know."**

**Michael clicked the locks on the front door. "Check the back. Make sure we're secure, Shane. Upstairs, too."**

**"Check." Shane moved off. "Dammit, this was my last Killers T-shirt. Somebody's paying for this..."**

**"Sorry, Michael," Eve said. "I tried, I really did."**

**"I know. Had to happen sooner or later, with four of us here. You did okay. Don't worry about it."**

**"I'm glad you and Shane were here."**

**Michael started to say something, then stopped, looking at Claire. Eve didn't seem to notice. She stripped off her leather coat and hung it on a peg by the door, and clumped off in the direction of the living room.**

**"We were just attacked," Claire finally managed to say. "By a vampire."**

**"Yeah, I saw," Michael said.**

**"No, you don't understand. We were attacked. By a vampire. Do you know how impossible that is?"**

**Michael sighed. "Truthfully? No. I grew up here, and so did Eve and Shane. We're just kind of used to it."**

**"That's crazy!"**

**"Absolutely."**

**It hit her then that there was another impossible thing she'd nearly forgotten about, in the press of panic, and she started to blurt it out, then looked around to be sure Shane and Eve were nowhere in sight.**

**"What about, you know? You?" She pointed at him.**

**"Me?" He raised his eyebrows. "Oh. Right. Upstairs."**

**She expected him to take her to the secret room Shane had shown her, but he didn't; instead, he took her to his own room, the big one on the corner. It was about twice the size of her own room, but didn't have much more furniture; it did have a fireplace - empty this time of year - and a couple of chairs and a reading lamp. Michael settled in one. Claire took the other, feeling small and cold in the heavy leather seat. The wing chair was about twice her size.**

**"Right," Michael said, and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "Let's talk about this morning." But having said that, he didn't seem to know how to start. He fidgeted, staring at the carpet.**

**"You died," Claire said. "You vanished."**

**He seemed glad to have something to respond to. "Not exactly, but - yeah. Close enough. You know I used to be a musician?"**

**"You still are!"**

**"Musicians play someplace besides their own houses. You heard Shane at dinner. He's pushing to find out why I'm not playing gigs. Truth is, I can't. I can't go outside of this house."**

**She remembered him standing in the doorway, white-faced, watching Shane face off with Brandon. That hadn't been caution; he wanted to be out there, fighting next to his friend. But he couldn't.**

**"What happened?" she asked softly. She could tell it wasn't going to be an easy story.**

**"Vampire," he said. "Mostly they just feed, and eventually they kill you if they feed hard enough. Some of them like that kind of thing, not all of them. But - this one was different. He followed me back from a gig and tried - tried to make me -"**

**She felt her face burn, and dropped her gaze. "Oh. Oh God."**

**"Not that," he said. "Not exactly. He tried to make me a vampire. But he couldn't. I guess he - killed me. Or nearly, anyway. But he couldn't make me into what he was, and he was trying. It nearly killed us both. When I woke up later, it was daylight, he was gone, and I was a ghost. Wasn't until night came that I realized I could make myself real again. But only at night." He shook his head slowly, rubbing his hands together as if trying to wash off a stain. "I think the house keeps me alive."**

**"The house?" she echoed.**

**"It's old. And it has a kind of - "He shrugged. "A kind of power. I don't know what it is, exactly. When my parents traded up to this house, they only lived here for a couple of months, then moved away to New York. Didn't like the vibes. I liked it fine. I think it liked me, too. But anyway, I can't leave it. I've tried."**

**"Even during the day? When you're not, you know, here?"**

**"Doesn't matter," he said. "Can't go out any door, window, or crack. I'm trapped here."**

**He looked oddly relieved to be telling her. If he hadn't told Shane or Eve, he probably hadn't told anybody. That felt odd, being the keeper of that secret, because it was a big one. Attacked by a vampire, left for dead, turned into a ghost, trapped in the house? How many secrets was that, anyway?**

**Something occurred to her. "You said - the vampire, did he...drink your blood?"**

**Michael nodded. He didn't meet her eyes.**

**"And - you died?"**

**Another silent nod.**

**"What happened to your - you know - body?"**

**"I'm still kind of using it." He gestured at himself. Claire, unable to stop herself, reached out and touched him. He felt real and warm and alive. "I don't know how it works, Claire, I really don't. Except I do think it's the house, not me."**

**She took a deep breath. "Do you drink blood?"**

"Well now I do but I didn't then." Michael told us.

"**He looked up this time, surprised, lips parted. "No. Of course I don't. I told you, he couldn't - make me what he was."**

**"You're sure."**

**"I eat Shane's garlic chili. Does that sound like a vampire to you?"**

**She shrugged thoughtfully. "Until today, I thought I knew what a vampire was, all capes and fake Romanian accents and stuff. What about crosses? Do crosses work?"**

**"Sometimes. Don't rely on them, though. The older ones aren't stopped by things like that."**

**"How about Brandon?" Since he was her main concern right now.**

**Michael's lip curled. "Brandon's a punk. You could melt him with a Super Soaker full of tap water, so long as you told him it was blessed. He's dangerous, but so far as vampires go, he's at the bottom of the food chain. It's the ones who don't go around flashing fangs and trying to grab you off the street you need to worry about. And yeah, wear a cross - but keep it under your clothes. You'll have to make one if you don't already have one - they don't sell them anywhere in town. And if you can find things like holy water and Eucharist, keep them on hand, but the vampires in this town closed down most of the churches fifty years ago. There's still a few operating underground. Be careful, though. Don't believe everything you hear, and never, ever go by yourself."**

**That was the longest speech she'd ever heard from Michael. It tumbled out in a flood, driven with intensity and frustration. He can't do anything. He can't do anything to help us when we go outside the door.**

**"Why did you let us move in?" she asked. "After - what happened to you?"**

**He smiled. It didn't look quite right somehow. "I got lonely," he said. "And since I can't leave the house, there's too much I can't do. I needed somebody to help with groceries and stuff. And...Being a ghost doesn't exactly pay the bills. Shane - Shane was looking for a place to stay, and he said he'd pitch in for rent. It was perfect. Then Eve...we were friends back in high school. I couldn't just let her wander around out there after her parents threw her out."**

**Claire tried to remember what Eve had said. Nothing, really. "Why did they do that?"**

**"She wouldn't take Protection from their Patron when she turned eighteen. Plus, she started dressing Goth when she was about your age. Said she was never going to kiss any vampire ass, no matter what."**

**Michael made a helpless gesture with his hands. "At eighteen, they threw her out. Had to, or it would have cost the whole family their Protection. So she's on her own. She's done okay - she's safe here, and she's safe at the coffee shop. It's only the rest of the time she has to be careful."**

**Claire couldn't think of anything to say. She looked away from Michael, around the room. His bed was made. Oh my God, that's his bed. She tried to imagine Michael sleeping there, and couldn't. Although she could imagine some other things, and shouldn't have because it made her feel hot and embarrassed.**

**"Claire," he said quietly. She looked back at him. "Brandon's too young to be out before dark, so you're safe in the daytime, but don't stay out after dark. Got it?"**

**She nodded.**

**"About the other thing..."**

**"I won't tell," she said. "I won't, Michael. Not if you don't want me to."**

**He let out his breath in a long, slow sigh. "Thanks. I know it sounds stupid, but...I just don't want them to know yet. I need to figure out how to tell them."**

**"It's your business," Claire said. "And Michael? If you start, you know, getting this craving for red stuff...?"**

**"You'll be the first to know," he said. His eyes were steady and cool. "And I expect you to do whatever you have to do to stop me."**

**She shivered and said yes, okay, she'd stake him if she had to, but she didn't mean it.**

**She hoped she didn't, anyway.**

**End of Chapter seven"**

**Well that was good but it was midday and we were getting hungry, so Eve and Claire started making food for all of us. **

_**End of chapter seven**_


	9. The Accidnet

_**Book: Glass House Chapter eight **_

_**Chapter eight**_

_**Chelsea's Pov: **_

_I've missed my sister she's always been there for me and Chester when the village children called Chester weak she showed them that the Archer family wasn't weak. But Chester is weak he'd the runt of the litter which always puts him down. _

We had our food which was human food it was something called a taco and it was heavenly with so much care put into it. "So who's going to read the next chapter?" I asked, that seemed to be my doom because the book was thrown at me by Mother.

"You can read it Chelsea." She said like venom.

"**Chapter eight…**

**Shane's turn for cooking dinner, and he came up with chili dogs - more chili, but at least he did a good job with it."**

"When do I ever not do a good job with the Chilli it's my speciality." Shane said. The others laughed and I continued to read.

"**Claire had two, watching in amazement as Michael and Shane downed four each, and Eve nibbled one. She smiled at Shane, and shot back barbs whenever he sent one sailing her way, but Claire noticed something else.**

**Eve couldn't keep her eyes off of Michael. At first, Claire thought, she knows something, but then she saw the flush in Eve's cheeks showing through the pale makeup, and the glitter in her eyes.**

**Oh. Well, she guessed Michael had looked pretty hot, grabbing her out of danger like that and dragging her out of harm's way. And now that she thought about it, Eve had been making little glances his direction every time they'd been together.**

**Eve finally shoved her plate away and claimed dibs on the bathroom for a long, hot, soaking bubble bath.**

**Which Claire wished she'd thought of first? She and Michael did the dishes while Shane practiced his zombie-fighting skills on Xbox.**

**"Eve likes you, you know," she said casually as she was rinsing off the last plate. He nearly dropped the one he was drying.**

"Hang on how you know I liked him, I never said anything about it to you." Eve exclaimed.

"I know you didn't I just figured it out I'm the geek here am I not?" Cruz replied.

**"What?"**

**"She does."**

**"Did she tell you that?"**

**"No."**

**"I don't think you understand Eve, then."**

**"Don't you like her?"**

**"Of course I like her!"**

**"Enough to...?"**

**"I am not talking about this." He put the plate into the drainer. "Jesus, Claire!"**

**"Oh, come on. You like her, don't you?"**

**"Even if I did -" He stopped short, glancing toward the doorway and lowering his voice. "Even if I did, there are a few problems, don't you think?" **

**"Everybody's got problems," she said. "Especially in this town. I've only been here six weeks, and I already know that." **

**Whatever he thought about that, he dried his hands and walked out. She heard him talking to Shane, and when she went out the two of them were deep into the video game, elbowing each other and fighting for every point. **

**Boys. Sheesh. **

"And I still think that you boys can be such pains sometimes." Cruz said.

**She was on her way to her room, passing the bathroom, when she heard Eve crying.**

**She knocked quietly, and looked in when Eve muffled her sobs. The door wasn't locked.**

**Eve was dressed in a black fluffy robe, sitting on the toilet; she'd stripped off her makeup and let her hair down, and she looked like a little girl in a too-large adult outfit. Fragile. She gave Claire a shaky grin and wiped tear tracks from her face. "Sorry," she said, and cleared her throat. "Kind of a suck-ass day, you know?"**

**"That guy. That vampire. He acted like he knew you," Claire said.**

**"Yeah. He - he's the one who gives my family Protection. I turned him down. He's not too happy." She gave a hollow little laugh. "Guess nobody likes rejection."**

**Claire studied her. "You okay, though?"**

**"Sure. Peachy." Eve waved her out. "Go study. Get smart enough to blow this town. I'm just a little bit down. Don't worry about it."**

**Later, when Michael started playing, Claire heard Eve crying through the wall again.**

**She didn't go investigate, and she didn't watch Michael vanish. She didn't think she had the courage.**

**Shane went with her the next day to buy some clothes. It was only three blocks to the colourless retail section of town, with all its dingy-looking thrift stores; she didn't want his company, but he wasn't letting her go alone.**

**"You let Eve go alone," she pointed out as he sat on the couch putting on his shoes.**

**"Yeah, well, Eve has a car," he said. "Besides, I wasn't up. You get escorted. Live with it."**

**She felt secretly pleased about it."**

"Oh really so when did the crushing on Shane happen?" Eve asked and well Cruz seemed to get red in the face.

"Don't worry I think it's cute and Eve just being herself." Shane said to Cruz and she seemed ok by that.

"**A little. It was another typically sunny day, the sidewalks almost vibrating with heat. Not a lot of pedestrians, but then, there rarely were. Shane walked with a long, loping stride, hands in his pockets; she had to hurry to keep up. She kept waiting for him to say something, but he didn't. After a while, she just started talking. "Did you have a lot of friends, growing up here?"**

**"Friends? Yeah, I guess. A few. Michael. I kind of knew Eve back then, but we hung with different crowds. Couple of other kids."**

**"What - what happened to them?"**

**"Nothing," Shane said. "They grew up, got jobs, claimed Protection, kept right on going. That's how it works in Morganville. You either stay in, or you run."**

**"Do you ever see them?" Because she'd been amazed how much she'd missed her friends back home, especially Elizabeth. She'd always thought she was a loner, but...maybe she wasn't. Maybe nobody really was.**

**"No," he said. "Nothing in common these days. They don't want to hang with somebody like me."**

**"Somebody who doesn't want to fit in." Shane glanced at her and nodded. "Sorry."**

**He shrugged. "Nobody's fault. So what about you? Any friends back home?"**

**"Yeah. Elizabeth, she's my best friend. We talked all the time, you know? But...when she found out I was going away to school, she just..." Claire decided a shrug was about the best opinion she could offer about it.**

**"Ever call her?"**

**"Yeah," she said. "But it's like we don't know each other anymore. You know? We have to think about what to say. It's weird."**

**"God, I know what you mean." Shane suddenly stopped and took his hands out of his pockets. They were in the middle of the block, in between two stores, and at first she thought he was going to look in a window, but then he said tensely, "Turn around and walk away. Just go into the first store you see, and hide."**

**"But -"**

**"Do it, Claire. Now."**

**She backed away and turned, walked as fast as she dared to the store they'd already passed. It was a skanky-looking used-clothing store, nowhere she'd willingly shop, but she pushed open the door and looked back over her shoulder as she did.**

**A cop car was gliding to the curb next to Shane. He was standing there, hands at his sides, looking bland and respectful, and the cop who was driving leaned out of the window to say something to him.**

**Claire nearly fell forward as the door was jerked open, and stumbled over the threshold into a darkened, musty-smelling interior.**

**"Hey there," the uniformed cop who'd opened the door said to her. He was an older man, blond, with thinning hair and a thick moustache. Cold blue eyes and crooked teeth. "Claire, right?"**

**"I -" She couldn't think what to say to that. All her life she'd been told not to lie to the police, but..."Yes, sir." She could tell he already knew, anyway.**

**"My name's Gerald. Gerald Bradfield. Pleased to meet you." He held out his hand. She swallowed hard, wiped her sweaty palm, and shook. She half expected that he'd click handcuffs around her wrists, but he just half crushed her hand as he pumped it twice, up and down, and let go. "People been looking for you, you know."**

**"I - didn't know that, sir."**

**"Didn't you?" Cold, cold eyes, no matter what the smile said. "Can't imagine that, little girl. Fact is, the mayor's daughter was worried about where you might have got off to. Asked us to find you. Make sure you were all right."**

**"I'm fine, sir." She could barely talk. Her mouth had gone dry. "I'm not in trouble, am I?"**

**He laughed. "Why would you be in trouble, Claire? No, you don't have to worry about that. Fact is, we already know where you are. And who you're running with. You should be more careful, honey. You're brand-new here, but you already know a hell of a lot more than you ought. And your friends aren't exactly the kind that guarantee a peaceful life in this town. Troublemakers. You don't look like a troublemaker to me. Tell you what, you move back into the dorm, be a good girl, go to classes, I'll personally make sure nothing happens to you."**

"Well Cruz is a troublemaker always in trouble since birth." Said Chester. Cruz decided to throw a pillow and he got it right in the face knocking him to the floor.

**Claire wanted to nod, wanted to agree, wanted to do anything to get away from this man. She looked around the store. There were other people in there, but she couldn't get any of them to look at her. It was like she didn't even exist.**

**"You don't think I can do it," he said. "I can. Count on it."**

**She looked back at him, and his eyes had gone white, with little dots of pupils in the middle. When he smiled, she saw a flash of fangs.**

**She gasped, backed away, and grabbed for the door handle. She lunged out into the street, running, and saw Shane standing right where he'd been, watching the police car pull away from the curb. He turned and grabbed her as she practically crashed into him. "Vampire!" she gasped. "V-vampire cop. In the store!"**

**"Must have been Bradfield," Shane said. "Tall guy? Kind of bald, with a moustache?"**

**She nodded, shaking all over. Shane didn't even look surprised, much less alarmed. "Bradfield's okay," he said. "Not the worst guy in town, that's for sure. He hurt you?"**

**"He - he just shook my hand. But he said he knew! He knew where I was living!"**

**Again, Shane didn't look surprised. "Yeah, well, that was just a matter of time. They pulled over to ask me your full name. They added it to inventory."**

**"Inventory?"**

**"That's what they call it. It's like a census. They always know how many are living in a place. Look, just walk, okay? And don't look so scared. They aren't going to jump us in broad daylight."**

**Shane had a lot more confidence in that than she did, but she got control of her shaking and nodded, and followed him up another block to a thrift shop that looked brighter, friendlier, and less likely to have vampires lurking inside. "This is Mrs Lawson's place. She used to be a friend of my mom's. It's okay."**

**Shane held open the door for her, like a gentleman. She supposed his mom had taught him that. Inside, the place smelled nice - incense, Claire thought and there were lots of lights burning. No dark corners here and a bell rang with a pleasant little tinkling sound when Shane let the door shut behind them.**

**"Shane!" A large woman in a brightly coloured tie-dyed shirt and big, swirly skirt hustled over from behind the counter at the back, gathered Shane up in a hug, and beamed at him when she stepped back. "Boy, what the hell are you doing back here? Up to no good?"**

**"Up to no good, ma'am. Just like always."**

"That's me" Shane said.

**"That's me" Shane said.**

**"Thought so. Good for you." The woman's dark eyes landed on Claire. "Who's your little friend?"**

**"This is Claire. Claire Danvers. She's - she's a student at the college."**

**"Nice to meet you, Claire. Now. I'll bet you didn't come in here just to say 'hey,' boy, so what can I do for you?"**

**"Clothes," Claire said. "I'm looking for some clothes."**

**"Those we got. You're about a size four, right? Come with me, honey. I've got some really nice things just your size. Shane, you look like you could use some new clothes, too. Those jeans are raggedy."**

**"Supposed to be."**

**"Lord. Fashion. I just don't understand it anymore."**

**Maybe she didn't, but Mrs Lawson had all kinds of cute tops and jeans and things, and cheap, too.**

**Claire picked an armload and followed her to the counter, where she counted out a grand total of twenty-two dollars, including tax. As Mrs Lawson was ringing it up, Claire looked behind her to the things on the wall. There was some kind of official-looking certificate hanging there, framed, with an embossed seal... No, that wasn't a seal. That was a symbol. The same symbol as the one on the bracelet Mrs Lawson wore.**

**"You take care," Mrs Lawson said as she handed over the bag with the clothes. "Both of you. Tell Shane he needs to get himself right, and he needs to do it quick. They've been cutting him some slack, given what he went through, but that won't last. He needs to be thinking about his future."**

**Claire looked over her shoulder to where Shane was staring out the window, looking bored. Eyes half-closed.**

**"I'll tell him," she said doubtfully.**

**She couldn't imagine Shane was thinking about anything else.**

**Days slipped away, and Claire just let them go. She was worried about class, but she was tired and her bruises had turned Technicolor,** **and the last thing she wanted to do was be the centre of attention. It was better - Shane had convinced her - to do some home study and get back to class when she was better, and Monica had had some time to let things blow over.**

**The week slipped away. She fell into a regular routine - up late with Michael and Shane and Eve, sleep until noon, argue over bathroom rights, cook, clean, study, do it all again. It felt...good. Real, somehow, in a way that dorm life didn't, exactly.**

**The following Monday, when she got up and made breakfast, she had to make it for two: Shane was awake, looking grumpy and groggy. He silently grabbed the bacon and fried some up while she did the eggs; there wasn't any banter, as there had been between him and Eve a couple of mornings back. She tried a little conversation, but he wasn't in the mood. He just grunted replies. She waited until he was done with his breakfast - which included a cup of coffee, brewed in the tiny little coffeemaker on the corner of the counter - before she asked, "What are you doing up so early?"**

**Shane leaned his chair back on two legs, balancing as he chewed. "Ask Michael."**

**Can't exactly do that... "You doing something for him?"**

**"Yeah." He thumped his chair back down and brushed his hand over his hair, which still looked like a mess. "Don't expect me to dress up or anything."**

**"What?"**

**"What you see is what you get." She just looked at him, frowning, trying to figure out what he was saying. "I'm taking you to class. You were going back today, right?"**

**"You're kidding," she said flatly. He shrugged. "You're kidding. I'm not some six-year-old who needs her big brother to walk her to school! No way, Shane!"**

**"Michael thinks you should have an escort. Brandon was pretty pissed. He could find a way to take it out on you, even if he can't do it himself. He's got plenty of people who'd kick your ass on his say-so."**

**Shane's eyes slid away from hers. "Like Monica."**

**Oh, crap. "Monica belongs to Brandon?"**

**"The whole Morrell family does, far as I know. He's their own personal badass. So" He rubbed his hands together. "What exciting classes do we have today?"**

**"You can't go to class with me!"**

**"Hey, you're welcome to knock me out and stop me, but until you do, I'm your date for the day. So what classes?"**

**"Calculus II, Physics of Sound, Chemistry III, chem lab, and Biochemistry."**

**"Holy crap. You really are smart. Right, I'll take some comics or something. Maybe my iPod."**

**She kept glaring at him. It didn't seem to do any good - if anything, it just made him more cheerful.**

**"I always wanted to be a big man on campus," Shane said. "Guess this is my chance."**

**"I'm dead," she moaned, and rested her forehead on her hands.**

**"Not yet. And that's kind of the point."**

"Still didn't help me the fact that you were there it made things a little easy but I still got hurt." Cruz said.

"What you mean you got hurt?" I asked.

"You're reading the book why don't you tell us." She replied.

"**She was afraid Shane would make a big deal out of it, but he didn't. He even combed his hair, which turned out to make him look totally hot in ways that she was afraid to notice."**

"Really what kind of ways?" He asked.

"Sorry you'll have to find out tonight maybe" She replied that seemed to keep him quiet and happy.

"**Especially if she had to spend the whole day with him. He'd picked a plain white shirt and his best pair of blue jeans, which were still out at the knees and frayed at the hems. And plain running shoes. "In case we have to do any retreating," he said. "Plus, kicking somebody when you're wearing flip-flops hurts."**

**"But you're not kicking anybody," she said quickly. "Right?"**

**"Nobody who doesn't deserve it," he said. "What else do I need to fit in?"**

**"Backpack." She found her spare - she'd brought two - and tossed it to him. He stuck in some paperbacks, a PSP, and his iPod and headphones, then raided the cabinets for Twinkies and bottled water. "We're not exactly going to the wilderness, Shane. You don't have to take everything. There are vending machines."**

**"Yeah? I didn't see any lunch in that schedule. You'll thank me later."**

**In fact, she did feel better with Shane loping along beside her; he was watching the shadows, the dark alleys, the empty buildings. Watching everything. Even though he'd packed the iPod, he wasn't listening to it. She missed hers, all of a sudden, and wondered if Monica had it."**

"She probably sold it along with anything else or she kept it." Said Eve.

"I doubt she'd keep it considering the music I have isn't her style." Replied Cruz.

"**They made it to campus without incident, and they were halfway across it, heading for her first class, when Claire suddenly thought of something and came to a full stop. Shane kept going for a couple of paces, then looked back.**

**"Monica," she said. "Monica's going to be hanging around. She usually is. She'll see you."**

**"I know." Shane hitched his backpack to a more comfortable spot. "Let's go."**

**"But - Monica!"**

**He just looked at her, and started walking. She stayed where she was. "Hey! You're supposed to be with me, not leaving me!"**

**"Monica's my business," he said. "Drop it." He waited for her, and she reluctantly caught up. "She doesn't mess with us, I won't mess with her. How's that?"**

**Wishful thinking, to Claire's mind. If Monica really had gotten it in for Shane, even a year or two ago, and gone far enough to kill his sister, she couldn't imagine any situation where Shane just walked away.**

**Shane wasn't a walking-away kind of guy.**

**The square concrete courtyard between the Architecture Building and the Math Sciences Building was packed with students crossing between classes. Now that Claire knew what to look for, she couldn't help but notice how many of them had bracelets - leather, metal, even braided cloth - with symbols on them.**

**And how many students didn't.**

**The ones who wore the symbols were the shiny, confident ones. Sorority girls. Frat guys. Athletes.**

**Popular kids. The loners, the sideliners, the dull and average and strange...they were the ones who weren't protected.**

**They were the cattle.**

**Shane was scanning the crowd. Claire kept walking quickly toward the Math Building; she knew for a fact that Monica wouldn't be caught dead - or killing anybody - in a place that geeky. The only problem was that the third building on the Quad was the Business Administration Building, and that was, of course, where Monica liked to spend her time hanging out, looking for rich boys.**

**Almost there...**

**She was actually on the steps leading up to the Math Building when she heard Shane stop behind her. He was staring off into the Quad, and as Claire turned, she saw Monica, surrounded by a clique of admirers, staring right back at him. The two of them might as well have been alone. It was the kind of look that people in love exchanged, or people who were about to kill each other.**

**"Son of a bitch," Shane breathed. He sounded shaken.**

**"Come on," Claire said, and grabbed his elbow. She was afraid he wouldn't let her pull him on, but he did, as if his mind was somewhere else. When he finally glanced at her, his eyes were dark and hard.**

**"Not here," she said. "She won't come in."**

**"Why not?"**

**"It would embarrass her."**

**He nodded slowly, as if that made sense to him, and followed her to class.**

**Claire had a hard time keeping her mind on the droning lecture, which was familiar anyway, and she'd read far ahead of where the professor was teaching...but mostly, she kept thinking about Shane, sitting motionless next to her, hands on the desk, staring blankly into space. He wasn't even listening to his iPod. She could sense the tenseness in his body, like he was just waiting for the chance to hit something.**

**I knew this was a bad idea.**

**It was an hour-and-a-half lecture with a fifteen-minute break in the middle; when Shane got up and walked out, she hastily followed him. He went up to the glass doors and looked out over the Quad.**

**"She's gone," he said, without looking at Claire. "Quit worrying about me. I'm okay."**

**"She - Eve said she burned your house." No reply. "And - your sister - ?"**

**"I couldn't get her out," Shane said. "She was twelve, and I couldn't get her out of the house. That was my job. Watch out for her."**

**He still didn't look at her. She couldn't think of anything to say. After a while, he walked away, into the boys' bathroom; she dashed into the girls', waiting impatiently for the line to clear, and came back out to find him nowhere in sight.**

**Oh, crap.**

**But when she went back to the lecture hall he was sitting right where he'd been, this time with his iPod ear buds in place.**

**She didn't say anything. Neither did he.**

**It was the longest lecture, and the least enjoyable, that Claire could remember.**

**Physics was in the same building; if Monica was waiting out in the wilting sun on the Quad, she'd be getting a really good tan. Shane sat like a statue, if a statue wore headphones and radiated angry coiled tension that made hair stand up on a person's arms. She felt like she was sitting next to an unexploded bomb, and given all of the physics she'd had, she understood exactly what that meant. Talk about potential energy...**

**Physics crawled slowly by. Shane broke out water and Twinkies, and shared. Chemistry was in the next building, but Claire made sure that they went out the side entrance, not through the Quad. No sign of Monica. She suffered through another hour and a half of chemistry and tension. Shane gradually unwound to the point that her nerves didn't jangle like sleigh bells every time he moved, and ended up playing on his PSP through most of the class. Killing zombies, she hoped. That seemed to put him in a good mood."**

"Kissing you gets me in a better mood" he whispered into her ear but he hadn't realised that mostly everyone in the room apart from Eve could hear that or maybe Michael hadn't heard it.

"**In fact, he was positively cheerful during chem lab, interested in the experiment and asking so many questions that the teaching assistant, who'd never had to come to Claire's table before, wandered over and stared at Shane as if trying to figure out what he was doing there.**

**"Hey, man," Shane said, and stuck out his hand. "Shane Collins. I'm - what's the word I'm looking for? Auditing. Auditing the class. With my friend here. Claire."**

**"Oh," said the TA, whose name Claire had never learned. "Right. Okay, then. Just - follow along."**

**Shane gave him a thumb-up and a goofy grin. "Hey," he said in an undertone, leaning close to Claire.**

**"Any of this stuff blow up?"**

**"What? Um...yeah, if you do it wrong, I guess."**

**"I'm thinking about practical applications. Bombs. Things like that."**

**"Shane!" He really was distracting. And he smelled good. Guy good, which was different from girl good - darker, spicier, a smell that made her go all fluttery inside. Oh, come on, it's Shane! She told herself." **

"Hey that's not very nice is it now, what's that suppose to mean? It's Shane?" He said to her. Cruz just shrugged her shoulders and I continued to read.

"**That didn't help, especially when he shot her that crooked smile and a look that probably would kill most girls at ten feet. He's a slacker. And he's - not that smart. Maybe he was, though. Just in different places than she was. It was a new idea to her, but she kind of liked it.**

**She slapped his hand when he reached for the reagents, and concentrated on the details of the experiment.**

**She was concentrating so hard, in fact, and Shane had gotten so engrossed in watching what she was doing, that neither of them heard footsteps behind them. The first Claire knew about it was a searing, burning sensation down the right side of her back. She dropped the beaker she was holding and screamed - couldn't help it, because God, that hurt - and Shane whirled around and grabbed somebody by the collar who was backing away.**

**Gina, the Monickettes. She snarled and slapped at him, but he didn't let go; Claire, gasping in pain and trying to twist to see what was happening on her back, could see that it was taking everything Shane had not to deck his prisoner then and there. The TA came rushing over and other students started realizing there was something wrong, or at least more interesting than lab work; Claire slipped off the stool at the table and tried to look at what was happening to her back, because it hurt. She smelled something terrible.**

**"Oh my God!" the TA blurted. He grabbed the bottled water out of Shane's backpack, opened it, and dumped the contents over Claire's back, then dashed to a cupboard on the side and came back with a box of baking soda. She heard it sizzle when it hit her back, and nearly passed out. "Here. Sit. Sit down. You, call an ambulance. Go!" As Claire sank down breathlessly again on another, lower stool, the TA grabbed a pair of scissors and cut her shirt up the back, and folded it aside. He cut her bra strap, too and she just barely had the presence of mind to grab hold before the whole thing slid down her arms.**

**God, it hurts, it hurts... She tried not to cry. The burn was easing up a little as the baking soda did its work. Acid has a low pH; baking soda has a high one... Well, at least she'd retained some grasp of chemistry, even now.**

**She looked up and saw that Shane still had hold of Gina. He'd twisted her arm behind her back and made her let go of the beaker; what remained of the acid she'd splashed on Claire was still in the glass, looking as innocent as water.**

**"It was an accident!" she yelped and stood on her tiptoes as Shane twisted harder. "I tripped! I'm sorry! Look, I didn't mean it..."**

**"We're not working with HSO today," the TA said grimly. "You've got no reason to be walking around with it. Claire? Claire, how bad is the pain?"**

**"I - its okay. I'm okay," she said, though truthfully she had no idea if she was or not. She felt lightheaded, sick, and cold. Shock, probably. And embarrassment, because God, she was half naked in front of the entire chem lab, and...Shane..."Can I put something on?"**

**"No, you can't let anything touch that. The burn's through several layers of skin. It'll need treatment, and antibiotics. You just sit still." The TA turned to Shane and Gina, and levelled a finger at her. "You, you're talking to the campus police. I will not tolerate this kind of attack in my classroom. I don't care who your friends are!"**

**So he knew her. Or at least he knew enough. Shane was whispering something in Gina's ear, something too low for Claire to hear, but it couldn't be good, by the expression on the girl's face.**

**"Sir?" Claire asked faintly. "Sir, can I have a makeup on the lab work and - " **

**And she passed out before she finished saying, and I'm sorry for the mess.**

**End of chapter eight."**

"Seriously before you decide to faint you say that?" Eve said and laughed.


	10. Faking the book

_**Book: Glass House Chapter nine**_

_**Chapter nine **_

_**Cali Pov: **_

_I didn't like this, the fact that my child had to live without me for so long. _

We had food and I picked the book up and started to read this book about my child's life.

"**Chapter nine…**

**When she woke up, she was on her side, and she felt warm all over. Sleepy. There was someone sitting next to her, a boy, and she blinked twice and realized that it was Shane. Shane was in her bedroom. **

**No, wait, this wasn't her bedroom; it was somewhere else...**

**"Emergency room," he said. She must have looked confused. "Damn, Claire. Warn a guy before you do a face-plant on the floor next time. I could have looked all heroic and caught you or something."**

**She smiled. Her voice came out sounding lazy and slow. "You caught Gina." That was funny, so she said it again. "You caught Geeeeeeeeeena."**

"I was pretty high from all those painkillers then wasn't I?" Cruz asked Shane.

"Yeah it got me really worried." He replied.

**"Yeah, ha-ha, you're high as a kite, you know? And they called your parents."**

**It took her a little while to realize what he'd just said. "Parents?" she repeated, and tried to lift her head.**

**"Oh. Ow. Not good."**

**"Not so much. Mom and Dad were pretty freaked to hear you became a lab accident. The campus cops forgot to mention the part where Gina deliberately threw acid on your back. They seem to think it was just one of those funky accidents."**

**"Was it?" she asked. "Accident?"**

**"No way. She meant to hurt you."**

"And I still stand by that she tried to hurt you and I would have done something to her if I wasn't so worried about you." Shane said.

"**Claire plucked at the ugly blue hospital gown she was wearing. "Killed my shirt."**

**"Yeah, pretty much." Shane looked pale and tense. "I've been trying to call Michael. I don't know where he is. I don't want to leave you alone here, but -"**

**"He's okay," she said softly, and closed her eyes. "I'm okay, too."**

**She thought she felt his hand on her hair, a second of light, sweet pressure. "Yeah," Shane said. "You're okay. I'll be here when you wake up."**

**She nodded sleepily, and then everything faded into a lemon yellow haze, like she was lying in the sunlight.**

**Ouch.**

**Waking up was not fun. No hazy druggy lemon sunlight; this was more like a blowtorch burning on her back right on the shoulder blade. Claire whimpered and burrowed into her pillow, trying to get away from the pain, but it followed close behind.**

**The drugs had worn off.**

**She blinked and whimpered and slowly sat up; a passing nurse stopped and came in to check her over.**

**"Congratulations," she said. "You're doing well. That burn is going to hurt for a while, but if you take the antibiotics and keep the wound clean, you'll be fine. You're lucky somebody was there to wash it off and neutralize the reaction. I've seen battery acid burns down to the bone."**

**Claire nodded, not sure she could actually speak without throwing up. Her whole side felt hot and bruised.**

**"Do you want to get down?"**

**She nodded again. The nurse helped her down, and gave her what was left of her clothes when she asked. The bra, cut through, was a total loss. The shirt - not much left of that, either. The nurse came up with a loose black T-shirt from lost and found and got her presentable, and the doctor came around to give her a quick once-over. From the brisk way they dispensed with her, a little sulphuric acid burn was barely worth working up a sweat about, at least in Morganville.**

**"It would be" I said before reading on.**

**"How bad is it?" she asked Shane as he wheeled her through the halls to the exit. "I mean, is it, like, really gross?"**

**"Unbelievably gross," he said. "Horror movie gruesome."**

"Thank god that it wasn't that bad and you had to scare me like that, you're so mean why'd you do that?" Cruz said.

"Because it was funny the way you reacted was stupid, anyway you should have known I was making it up." Replied Shane.

**"Oh God."**

**He relented. "It's not so bad. It's about the size of a quarter. Your teacher guy did a good job chopping up your clothes and getting it away from your skin. I know it hurt like hell, but it could have been a lot worse."**

**There had been a lot more in the beaker in Gina's hand. "Do you - do you think she was going to - ?"**

**"Pour it all on you? Hell yeah. She just didn't have time."**

**Wow. That was...unpleasant. She felt hot and cold and a little sick, and it had nothing to do with shock this time. "I guess that was Monica's payback."**

**"Some of it, anyway. She'll be really pissed now that it didn't go over the way she thought it would."**

**The idea of Monica being really pissed wasn't the best way to end the day - and it was the end of the day, she realized as Shane rolled her up to the automatic glass double doors.**

**It was dark.**

**"Oh," she said, and covered her mouth. "Oh no."**

**"Yeah, well, we've got transpo covered, at least. Ready?"**

**She nodded, and Shane suddenly accelerated her chair into a flat-out run. Claire yelped and grabbed for the handles, feeling utterly out of control as the chair bounced its way down the ramp and skidded to a halt just inches from the shiny black side of Eve's car. Eve threw open the passenger door, and Claire tried to get up on her own, but Shane grabbed her around the waist and lifted her straight into the seat. It took seconds, and then he was kicking the wheelchair back toward the ramp, where it bumped into the railing and sat there, looking lost.**

**Shane dived into the back. "Punch it!" he said. Eve did, as Claire struggled to find some kind of seat belt setting that wouldn't reduce her to gasps and tears of pain. She settled for hunching forward, bracing herself on the massive dashboard, as Eve peeled out of the parking lot and raced down the dark street.**

**The streetlights looked eerie and too far apart - was that deliberate? **

**Did the vampires control even how far apart they built the lights? **

**Or was she just freaked beyond belief?**

**"Is he there?" Shane asked, leaning over the seat back. Eve shot him a look.**

**"Yeah," she said. "He's there. But don't put me in the middle of it. I have to work there, you know."**

**"I promise, I won't tick off your boss."**

**She didn't believe him - that much was clear - but Eve turned right instead of left at the next light, and in about two minutes pulled up at the curb in front of Common Grounds, which was ablaze with light.**

**Crowded, too. Claire frowned, but before she could even ask, Shane was out of the car and heading inside the coffee shop.**

**"What's he doing?" she asked.**

**"Something stupid," Eve said. "How's the burn? Hurts, huh?"**

**Claire would have shrugged, but when she even thought about it the imagined pain made her flinch. "Not so bad," she said bravely, and tried a smile. "Could have been a lot worse, I guess."**

**"I guess," Eve agreed. "Told you classes were dangerous. We need to get this under control. You can't go back if this kind of thing happens."**

**"I can't quit!"**

**"Sure you can," Eve said cheerfully. "People do it all the time. Just not people like you - oh, damn."**

**Eve bit her black-painted lip, eyes wide and worried as she stared through the window at the brightly lit interior of the shop. And after a few seconds, Claire saw what she was worried about: the hippie manager, Oliver, was standing at the window watching them right back, and behind him, Shane was pulling up a chair to the far-corner table, where a dark shape was sitting.**

**"Tell me he's not talking to Brandon," Claire said.**

**"Um...okay. He's not talking to Brandon."**

**"You're lying."**

**"Yeah. He's talking to Brandon. Look, let Shane do his thing, okay? He's not as stupid as he looks, mostly."**

**"But he's not - Protected, right?"**

**"That's why he's talking in Common Grounds. It's sort of a truce spot. Vampires don't hunt there, or they're not supposed to, anyway. And it's where all kinds of deals and treaties and stuff get made. So Shane's safe enough in there."**

**But she was still biting her lip and looking worried. "Unless?" Claire guessed.**

**"Unless Shane attacks first. Self-defence doesn't count."**

**Shane was being good, as far as Claire could see... His hands were on the table, and although he was bent over saying something, he wasn't slugging anybody. That was good, right? Although she had no idea what he could be saying to Brandon, anyway. Brandon wasn't the one who had poured acid on her back.**

**Whatever Shane said, it didn't seem to go down too hard; eventually, Shane just shoved his chair back and walked out, nodding to Oliver on the way out. Brandon slid out from behind the table, dark and sleek, to follow Shane to the doorway, close enough to reach out and grab him. But that was just a mind game, Claire realized as she started to yell a warning. Brandon wanted to freak him out, not hurt him.**

**Shane just looked over his shoulder, shrugged, and exited the coffee shop. When Brandon started to follow, Oliver reached across and put his arm in the way. By the time Brandon had snarled something at him, Shane was in the car, and Eve was already gunning it away from the curb.**

**"Do we need to be afraid now?" she asked. "Because I'd like a head start before the official terror alert goes up."**

**"Nope. We're clear," Shane said. He sounded tired, and a little strange. "Claire's got a free pass. Nobody's going to come after her. Including Monica and her sock puppets."**

**"But - what? Why?" Claire asked. Eve evidently didn't have to ask. She just looked grim and angry.**

**"We did a trade," Shane said. "Vampires are all about the one-up."**

**"You're such an idiot!" Eve hissed.**

**"I did what I had to do! I couldn't ask Michael. He wasn't - " Shane bit off whatever he was about to say, violently, and got the anger in his voice under tight control. "He wasn't around. Again. I had to do something. Claire wasn't kidding. They'll kill her, or at least, they'll hurt her so bad she'll wish they'd finish it up. I can't let that happen."**

**There was, Claire thought, a silent not again at the end of that. She wanted to turn and look at him, but it hurt too much to try. She tried to meet his eyes in the mirror instead.**

**"Shane," she said. "What did you promise?"**

**"Nothing I can't afford to lose."**

"You were one big idiot and you're so dumb how could you do that you didn't have that much experience in making deals like me or Brandon. I'll admit you have some now but then not so much." Cruz said and Shane looked hurt by this but it seemed true.

**"Shane!"**

**But Shane didn't answer. Neither did Eve, although she parted her lips a couple of times, then shut them without making a sound. The rest of the drive was done in silence, and once they'd pulled in at the curb, Eve got out and hurried up the walk to unlock the door. Claire opened the passenger door and started to get out, but again, Shane was there ahead of her, helping her up. Man, he was...strong. And he had big, warm hands. She shivered, and he immediately asked, "Cold?" but it wasn't that. Not that at all.**

**"Shane, what did you promise?" she blurted, and grabbed his forearm. Not that he couldn't have pulled free, but...he didn't. He just looked down at her. They were standing really close together, close enough she felt every nerve in her body fizz like a shaken can of Coke. "You didn't - do something -"**

**"Stupid?" he asked. He looked down at her hand, and after a second, he touched it with his own. Just for a second, and then yanked away from her like she'd burned him. She'd been right; he could break free without even thinking about it. "Yeah. That's what I'm good at. The stupid stuff. Probably for the best; having two big brains in the house might get kinda crowded." When she tried to say something, he motioned her toward the house. "Unless you want to hang a This Vein for Rent sign around your neck, move already!"**

**She moved. The front door was open, and Shane followed behind her, close behind, until she was going up the steps.**

**She didn't hear his footsteps anymore, and turned to look. He was standing at the bottom of the stairs, watching the street.**

**There was a vampire standing at the corner, under the glow of a streetlight. Brandon. Just standing there, arms folded, he was leaning against the lamppost like he had all the time in the world.**

**He blew them a kiss, turned, and walked away.**

**Shane shot him the finger and practically shoved Claire across the threshold. "Don't you ever stop out there?"**

**"You said I got a free pass!"**

**"It doesn't come with a written guarantee!"**

**"What did you promise him?" she yelled.**

**Shane slammed the door, hard, and started to push past her to go down the hall, but just as he got there, Michael stepped into his path. And Michael looked pissed.**

**"Answer her," he said. "What the hell did you do, Shane?"**

**"Oh, now you care? Where the hell were you, man? I called! I came and looked for you. Hell, I even picked the lock to your room!"**

**Michael's blue eyes flickered from Shane to Claire and back. "I had things to do.**

**"Dude, today you had things to do? Whatever, man. You weren't around, and I had to make the call. So I made it."**

**"Shane." Michael reached out and grabbed him by the arm, dragging him to a stop. "It sounds like she deserves an answer. We all do." Behind him, Eve stepped around the corner, arms folded.**

**Shane let out a short, harsh laugh. "Ganging up on me with the girls? Low blow, man. Low blow. What happened to male bonding?"**

**"Eve says you talked to Brandon."**

**Claire watched the fight go out of Shane's shoulders. "Yeah. I did. I had to. I mean - look, they threw acid on her and the damn cops wouldn't even - I had to go to the source. You taught me that."**

**"You made a deal with Brandon," Michael said, and Claire heard the sick tremor in his voice. "Oh, dammit to hell, Shane. You didn't."**

**Shane shrugged. He wasn't meeting Michael's eyes. "Dude, it's done. Don't make a thing out of it. It's only twice. And he can't drain me or anything."**

**"Shit!" Michael turned and slammed his hand hard into the wooden doorframe. "You don't even know her, man! You can't make a crusade out of this!"**

**"I'm not!"**

**"She's not Alyssa!" Michael yelled, and that was the loudest shout she'd ever heard in her life. Claire flinched and stepped back, and saw Eve do the same behind him.**

**Shane didn't move. It was like he couldn't. He just stood there, head down.**

**And then he took a deep breath, raised his head, and met Michael's furious eyes.**

**"I know she's not Alyssa," he said, and his tone was still, quiet, and completely cold. "You need to back the hell off, Michael, and you need to stop thinking I'm the screwed-up kid you knew back then. I know what I'm doing, and you're not my dad."**

**"I'm the closest thing you have to family around here!" Michael came off of the yelling, but Claire could hear the anger bubbling in his voice. "And I'm not letting you play the hero. Not now.**

**"I wouldn't have to if you'd step up and watch my back!"**

**Shane shoved past him this time, pounded up the stairs, and slammed the door to his room. Michael stood there, staring after him until Claire took a step forward. She froze when he looked at her, afraid he'd be angrier at her than he had been at Shane. After all, it had been her fault...**

**"Come sit down," Michael said. "I'll get you something to eat."**

**"I don't -"**

**"Yes, you do. Sit. Eve, hold her down if you have to." He took her hand for a second, squeezed it, and stood aside for her to move to the couch. She sank onto it with a sigh of relief and rested her forehead on her hands. God, what a miserable day. It had started out so - and Shane - but -**

**"You understand what Shane did, right?" Eve asked, plopping next to her. "How he, you know, made the deal?"**

**"No." She felt hot, and miserable, and she definitely didn't want food. But Michael wasn't exactly in the mood to take no for an answer. "I have no idea what's going on."**

**"Shane traded two sessions to Brandon in exchange for him leaving you alone."**

**"He - what?" Claire looked up, mortally confused. Was Shane gay? She hadn't even thought about the possibility..."**

Everyone laughed at this. "How could you think I was gay I know some guys might want to hit this but seriously I don't swing that way, only got eyes for you." he said to Cruz and it seemed that Cain was going to say something about Cruz's past.

"So Cruz do you remember when you were in a relationship with that beautiful women in 1943 in world war two in Germany and you got taken?" said Cain who'd been searching for her and found her but she was later killed by the German's.

"Wait Claire were you a lesbian in world war two?" Eve exclaimed.

"Yeah I was but that was then it won't be resurfacing and Shane keep control of yourself. And Cain I'm going to beat you with a wooden stick if you don't be quiet.

**"Sessions. You know bites." Eve mimed fangs. "The agreement is that Brandon can fang him - twice. He just can't, you know, kill him. It's not about food, its pleasure. And power." Eve smoothed her pleated skirt and frowned down at her short, black fingernails. "Michael's right to be angry about it. Not killing somebody is a hell of a long way from not hurting them. And Brandon's got a lot of experience at making deals. Shane doesn't."**

**Somehow, she'd known that - from the way Shane had acted, the way Brandon had been watching them, the way Michael had been so angry. It wasn't just that Shane had told Brandon to back off, or made some dumbass promise. Shane had traded his life for hers - or at least, he was risking it.**

**Claire gasped, and fear prickled her skin so hard it was like rolling in needles. "But if he gets bitten, is he - won't he - ?"**

**"Turn into a vampire?" Eve shook her head. "It can't work that way, or Morganville would be the Undead Metroplex by now for sure. All my life, I've never seen or heard of anybody turned into a vampire from a bite. The suckers around here are really old. Not that Shane wouldn't look completely hot with a nice set of fangs, but..." She fiddled with the pleats on her skirt. "Shit. This is stupid. Why not me? I mean, not that I exactly want to - not anymore - but...it's worse for guys."**

**"Worse? Why?"**

**Eve shrugged, but Claire could see she was avoiding the question. "Shane's definitely not going to be able to handle it. Boy can't even let somebody else have the last corn dog, and he doesn't even like corn dogs. He's a total control freak.** **"She fidgeted for a few more seconds, then added, softly, "And I'm afraid for him."**

**As Michael came back into the room, Eve jumped up and ran around moving things, stacking things, until Michael gave her a none-too-subtle signal to leave. Which she did, making some excuse Claire didn't hear, and clattered upstairs to her room.**

**Michael handed Claire a bowl. "Chili. Sorry. It's what we've got."**

**She nodded and took a spoonful, because she'd always pretty much done what she was told...and the second the chili hit her tongue, she realized that she was starving. She swallowed it almost without chewing, and was scooping up the next bite before she knew what she was doing. Shane needed to go into the chili business.**

**Michael slipped into the leather armchair to the left and picked up the guitar he'd laid aside. He started tuning it as if the whole scene with Shane hadn't even happened. She ate, stealing glances at him as he bent over the instrument, drawing soft, resonant notes. "You're not mad?" she finally asked, or mumbled.**

**"Mad?" He didn't raise his curly blond head. "Mad is what you get when somebody flips you the finger on the freeway, Claire. No. I'm scared. And I'm trying to think what to do about it."**

**She stopped chewing for a few seconds, then realized that choking on her food wasn't likely to make things any better.**

**"Shane's hot-headed," Michael said. "He's a good guy, but he doesn't think. I should have thought for him, before I brought you in here."**

**Claire swallowed. The food had suddenly gone a little sour in her mouth, so she put the spoon down.**

**"Me?"**

**Michael's fingers stilled on the guitar strings. "You know about his sister, right?"**

**Alyssa. That was the name Michael had thrown out. The one that had hurt Shane. "She's dead."**

**"Shane's not a complicated guy. If he cares about somebody, he fights for them. Simple. Lyssa - Lyssa was a sweet kid. And he had that whole big-brother thing working. He'd have died for her." Michael slowly shook his head. "Nearly did. Anyway, the point is that Lyssa would have been your age by now, and here you are getting hurt by the same bitches who killed his sister, trying to get him. So yeah. He'd do anything - anything - not to have to live through that again. You may not be Lyssa, but he likes you, and more than that, he hates Monica Morrell. So much he - " Michael couldn't seem to say it. He stared off into space for a few seconds, then went on. "Making deals with the vampires in this town will keep you alive on the outside, but it eats you on the inside. I watched it happen to my folks, before they got out of here. Eve's parents, too. Her sisters. If Shane goes through with this, it'll kill him."**

**Claire stood up. "He's not going through with it," she said. "I'm not letting him."**

**"How exactly are you going to stop him? Hell, I can't stop him, and he listens to me. Mostly."**

**"Look, Eve said - Eve said vampires own this town. Is that true? Really?"**

**"Yes. They've been here as long as anybody can remember. If you live here, you learn to live with them. If you can't, then you go."**

**"They don't just run around biting people, though."**

**"That would be rude," he said gravely. "They don't need to. Everybody in town - everybody who's a resident - pays taxes. Blood tax. Two pints a month, down at the hospital."**

**She stared. "I didn't have to!"**

**"College kids don't. They get taxed a different way." He looked grim, and with a sick, twisting sense of horror she realized what he was going to say right before he made it real. "Vamps have a deal with the school. They get to take two percent a year, right off the top. Used to be more, but I think they got worried. Couple of close calls with the media. There's nothing TV stations like more than a pretty young college girl gone missing. Claire, what are you thinking?"**

**She took a deep breath. "If the vamps have this all planned out, then they've got, you know, structure.**

**Right? They can't all just be running their own shows. Not if there are a lot of them. There's got to be somebody in charge."**

**"True. Brandon's got a boss. And his boss probably has a boss."**

"Which was Oliver then Amelie was his" Michael said.

**"So all we have to do is make a deal with his boss," she said. "For something other than Shane getting bit."**

**"All?"**

**"They have to want something. Something more than what they already have. We just need to find out what it is."**

**There was a creak on the stairs. Michael turned to look, and so did Claire. Eve was standing there.**

**"Didn't hear you coming," Michael said. She shrugged and padded down the steps; she'd taken off her shoes. Even her black-and-white hose had little skulls on the toes.**

**"I know what they want," she said. "Not that we're going to be able to find it."**

**Michael looked at her for a long time. Eve didn't look away; she walked right up to him, and Claire suddenly felt like she was in the middle of something personal. Maybe it was the way he was looking at her, or how she was smiling at him, but it made Claire fidget and closely examine a stack of books on the end table.**

**"I don't want you in this," Michael said. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him reach out and take Eve's hand.**

**"Shane's in it. Claire's in it. Hey, even you're in it." Eve shrugged. "You know how much I hate being left out. Besides, if there's a way to stick it to Brandon, I'm all for it. That guy needs a poke in the eye with a nice, sharp stake."**

**They were still holding hands. Claire cleared her throat, and Michael let go first. "What is it? What do they want?"**

**Eve grinned. "Oh, you're gonna love this," she said. "They want a book. And I can't think of anybody who'd have a better shot at finding it than you, book girl."**

"Is she talking about the founder book the one I made?" asked Caelan.

"Yes father that's the book the one I used to bring you and Chelsea back also Bishop, Francis and Ysander." Cruz said.

"**There were a lot of rules to Morganville Claire hadn't even thought about. The blood donation, that was one - and she was starting to wonder how Michael was getting away with not paying his taxes. He couldn't, right? If he couldn't leave the house?**

**She sat down cross-legged on the floor with a ledger notebook, turned to a fresh sheet of paper, and made a heading that read Pluses for Vampires. Under that column, she wrote down blood donation, Protection, favours, deals.**

**"Oh, put down curfew," Eve said.**

**"There's a curfew?"**

**"Well, yeah, of course. Except for the school. They don't care if the students roam around all night, because, you know - " Eve mimed fangs in the neck. Claire swallowed and nodded. "But for locals? Oh yeah."**

**"How is that a plus for them?"**

**"They don't have to worry about who's safe to bite and who's not. If you're out running around, you're lunch."**

**She wrote down curfew. Then she turned the page and wrote down Minuses for Vampires.**

**"What are they afraid of?" she asked.**

**"I don't think we were done with the pluses," Michael said. He sat down on the floor next to the two girls - well, closer to Eve, Claire noticed. "Probably a lot you didn't write down."**

**"Oh, let the girl feel better about it," Eve said. "It's not all gloomy. Obviously, they don't like daytime - "**

**Claire wrote it down.**

**"And garlic...silver...um, holy water - "**

**"You sure about those?" Michael asked. "I always thought they pretended on a lot of that, just in case."**

**"Why would they do that?"**

**Claire answered without looking up. "Because it makes it easier to hide what really can hurt them. I'm writing it down anyway, but it may not be right."**

**"Fire is for real," Michael said. "I saw a vampire die once, when I was just a kid. One of those revenge deals."**

**Eve pulled in a deep breath. "Oh, yeah. I remember hearing about it. Tom Sullivan."**

**Claire asked, wide-eyed, "The vampire was named - ?"**

**"Not the vampire," Michael said. "The guy who killed him. Tommy Sullivan. He was kind of a screw up, drank a lot, which isn't too unusual around here. He had a kid. She died. He blamed the vampires, so he doused one with gas and set him on fire, sitting right in the middle of the restaurant."**

**"You saw that?" Claire asked. "How old were you?"**

**"You grow up fast in Morganville. The point is, there was a trial the next night. Not much chance for Tommy. He was dead before morning. But...fireworks. Just don't get caught."**

**Claire wrote down fire. "What about stakes?"**

**"You've seen Brandon," Eve said. "You want to try to get close enough to stake him? Yeah, me neither."**

**"But do they work?"**

**"Guess so. You have to fill out a form when you buy wood."**

**Claire wrote it down. "Crosses?"**

**"Definitely."**

**"Why?"**

**"Because they're evil, soulless, bloodsucking fiends?"**

**"So was my sixth-grade gym teacher, but he wasn't afraid of a cross."**

**"Funny," Eve said, in the way that meant not. "Because there are hardly any churches, and so far as I know, crosses are impossible to come by unless you make 'em yourself. Also, all these guys grew up - isn't that weird, thinking of them growing up? - When religion wasn't just something you did on Sundays. It was something you were, every minute, every day, and God was always up for a little recreational smiting of the wicked."**

**"Don't," Michael murmured. "God's scarce enough around here."**

**"No offense to the Big Guy, Michael, but he made himself scarce," Eve shot back. "You know how many nights I spent in bed praying, Dear God, please take away all the bad people? Yeah, that really worked." Michael opened his mouth to say something. "And please don't tell me God loves me. If God loved me, he'd drop a bus ticket to Austin in my lap so I could blow this town once and for all."**

**Eve sounded - well, angry. Claire tapped her pencil against the pad, not making eye contact.**

**"How do they keep people from leaving?" she asked.**

**"They don't. Some people leave. I mean, Shane did," Michael said. "I think the question you're looking for is, how do they keep them from talking? And that's where it gets weird."**

**"That's where?" Claire murmured. Eve laughed.**

**"I don't know myself, because I never got out of town, but Shane says that once you get about ten miles outside of Morganville, you get this terrible headache, and then you just...start to forget. First you can't remember what the name of the town was, and then you can't remember how to get there, and then you don't remember that the town had vampires. Or the rules. It just - doesn't exist anymore for you. It comes back if you return to town, but when you're out, you can't run around telling all about Morganville because you just don't remember."**

**"I heard rumours," Eve said. "Some people start remembering, but they get - " She made a graphic throat-cutting gesture. "Hit squads."**

**Claire tried to think of things that would cause that kind of memory loss. Drugs, maybe? Or...some kind of local energy field?**

**Or...okay, she had no idea. But it sounded like magic, and magic made her nervous.**

"**Why is that, you can create magic but it scares you?" asked Shane."**

"Only because I was a science geek and Magic is more of a way to create non existing science. That's how I saw it when I was Claire. And it seemed unreal like the sort that would be in the circus." Cruz relied.

"**She supposed vampires were magic, too, when you got right down to it, and that made her even more nervous. Magic didn't exist. Shouldn't exist. It was just...wrong. It offended her scientific training.**

**"So where does all that leave us?" Michael asked. It was a reasonable question.**

**Claire flipped another page, wrote down memory loss aft. Depart, and said, "I'm not sure. I mean, if we're going to put together any kind of a plan, we have to basically know as much as we can to make sure it's a good enough approach. So keep talking. What else?"**

**It went on for hours. The grandfather clock solemnly announced the arrival and departure of nine o'clock, then ten, then eleven. It was nearly midnight, and Claire had scribbled up most of the ledger pages, when she looked at Michael and Eve and asked, "Anything else?" and got negative shakes of their heads in reply. "Okay, then. Tell me about the book."**

**"I don't know a lot," Eve said. "They just put out a notice about ten years ago that they were looking for it. I heard they have people all over town going through libraries, bookstores, anyplace it could be hidden. But the weird thing is that vamps can't actually read it."**

**"You mean it's in some other language?"**

**Michael raised his eyebrows. "I don't think it's that easy. I mean, every one of these suckers has got to speak a dozen languages, at least."**

**"Dead languages," Eve said. When they looked at her, she grinned. "What? Come on. Funny!"**

**"Maybe they can't read it for the same reason people can't remember anything outside of town," Claire said slowly. "Because something doesn't want them to."**

"Why did was that?" asked Shane.

"Because I but a spell on it so no one from outside my bloodline couldn't read it and if someone from it touched the book it would shut the spell off." Replied Caledon.

**"That's kind of a leap, but the Russian judge gave you a nine point five for style, so okay," Eve said.**

**"The important thing is that we know what it looks like."**

**"Which is?" Claire put her pencil to paper.**

**"A book with a brown leather cover. Some kind of symbol on the front."**

**"What kind?" Because brown leather cover didn't exactly narrow things down when it came to books.**

**Eve pushed up the sleeve of her skin-tight black mesh top, and held out her forearm. There, tattooed in plain blue, was a symbol that looked kind of like an omega, only with some extra waves in it. Simple, but definitely nothing Claire could remember seeing before. "They've been searching for it. They gave everybody growing up in a protected family the tattoo so that we remember what to look for."**

**Claire stared for a couple of seconds, wanting to ask how old Eve was when she got the tattoo, but she didn't quite dare. She dutifully marked the symbol down in her notebook. "And nobody's found it. Are they sure it's here?"**

**"They seem to think so. But I'll bet they've got their sources searching all over the world for it. Seems pretty important to them."**

**"Any idea why?"**

**"Nobody knows," Michael said. "I grew up asking, believe me. Nobody has a clue. Not even the vampires."**

**"How can they be looking for something and not even know why?"**

**"I'm not saying somebody doesn't know why. But the vampires have ranks, and the only ones I've ever really talked to aren't exactly in charge. Point is, we can't find out, so we shouldn't waste time worrying about it."**

**"Good to know." Claire put contents unknown next to the symbol of the book, then valuable!**

**Underneath, underscored with three dark lines. "So if we can find this book, we can trade it to get Monica off my back, and make sure Shane's deal is called off."**

**Michael and Eve looked at each other. "Did you miss the part where the vamps have been turning Morganville upside down trying to find it?" Eve asked.**

**Claire sighed, flipped back a page, and pointed at a note she'd made. Eve and Michael both craned over to read it.**

**Vampires can't read it.**

**They looked blank.**

**"I'm going to need to spend some time at the library," Claire said. "And we're going to need some supplies."**

**"To do what?" Eve still wasn't catching on, but Michael was.**

**"Fake the book?" he asked. "You really think that'll work? What do you think happens when they figure out we cheated?"**

**"Bad idea," Eve said. "Very bad idea. Honest."**

**"Guys," Claire said patiently. "If we're careful, they'll never suspect we're smart enough to do something like that. Not to mention brave enough. So we give them a fake - it's still more than anybody else has.**

**They may be pissed, but they'll be pissed that somebody faked it. We just found it."**

**They were both looking at her now like they'd never seen her before. Michael shook his head.**

**"Bad idea," he said.**

**Maybe so. But she was going to try it anyway.**

**End of Chapter nine."**

"Faking the book that's clever but we really are bad and good aren't we." Eve stated.


	11. The Promise

_**Book: Glass House Chapter ten**_

_**Chapter ten**_

_**Caelan Pov: **_

_This was my second youngest daughter's life, the fact that I wasn't in this was hurting me and that I couldn't save her or my youngest daughter Chelsea. Cruz was always strong and cared about others since she was a baby like when Chester fell over and cut his knee and everyone laughed including Cali and she turned into her wolf form and scared us off and healed Chester. Now everyone knows she had something special about her. _

We sat around looking at each other thinking about who would read the next chapter and it was coming closer to night. "I'll read the rest of the book if you wish." I said and we began and Eve got up from her seat and ordered pizza for all of us.

"**Chapter ten…**

**She was too wired to sleep, and besides, her back hurt, and she couldn't stand the thought of waiting even one more night to get started. Brandon hadn't seemed like the kind of guy to wait for his revenge, and Shane - Shane wasn't the kind of guy to not hold up his end of a deal, either.**

**If he's stupid enough to want to get bitten, fine, but he's not using me for an excuse.**

**Shane hadn't come out of his room all night. She hadn't heard a thing when she'd listened - carefully - at his door. Eve had mimed headphones and turning up an invisible stereo. Claire could understand that; she'd spent lots of hours trying to blow out her own eardrums to avoid the world.**

**Eve lent her a laptop - a retro thing, big and black and clunky, with a biohazard-symbol sticker on the front. When Claire plugged it into the broadband connection and booted it up, the desktop graphic was a cartoon Grim Reaper holding a road sign instead of a scythe - a road sign that read MORGANVILLE, with an arrow pointing down?**

**Claire clicked on a couple of folders - guiltily, but she was curious - and found they were full of poetry."**

"Hey that was personal stuff you know?" Eve shouted but seemed calm by the fact that someone knew about it.

"Sorry but like it said I did feel guilty and I never knew you felt like that when you were younger." Cruz said caring about everyone like always.

"**Eve liked death, or at least, she liked to write about it. Florid romantic stuff, all angst and blood and moonlit marble...and then Claire noticed the dates. The last of the poetry had been done three years ago."**

"Hey Cruz weren't you an emo in 1981 and you killed yourself because your fiancé got run over or something?" said Caleb.

"Yeah but I wasn't an emo I was upset by the fact that the man that I loved had died and I was a religious nut who believed in the afterlife where I'd see him again." Cruz said.

"Really so you understand about what it was like?" Eve asked.

"Yeah I'd of done anything I was always like that in all my lives." Cruz said. Shane seemed hurt that she'd do that but she saw the hurt before he could cover it up. "Shane I was like that when I thought you were dead when the draugs had you and I fought to save you and you nearly killed yourself when I was a ghost." Cruz said and it seemed that Michael and Eve didn't know anything about it.

"You did what!" Michael shouted.

"I was upset from losing Claire it was like losing my mom and Alyssa again and I couldn't take it but then Claire stopped me." he stated.

"Father could you please keep reading." Cruz said. So I continued reading.

"**Eve would have been what, fifteen? She'd been starry-eyed about vampires back then, but something had changed. No poetry at all for the past three years...**

**Eve walked in the open door. "Working okay?" she asked. Claire jumped, guilty, and gave her the thumbs-up as she clicked open the Internet connection. "Okay, I called my cousin in Illinois. She's going to let us use her PayPal account, but I have to send her cash, like, tomorrow. Here's the account." She handed over a slip of paper. "We're not going to get her killed, right?"**

**"Nope. I'm not buying much from any one place. A lot of people buy leather and tools and stuff. And paper - how old is this book supposed to be?"**

**"Old."**

"That wasn't what I meant and you know that Eve and I'm old they used that around when my parents were born." Cruz said to Eve.

"Well I didn't know that but you knew more about that stuff then I did, all I knew was that it was old." Eve replied.

**"Was it on vellum?"**

**"Is that paper?"**

**"Vellum is the oldest kind of paper they used in books," Claire said. "It's sheepskin."**

"Yeah that's what we used for the book till Bishop took it and used it then Myrnin remade the book and it's now made of normal paper." Cruz said.

**"Oh. I guess that, then. It's really old."**

**Vellum would be hard. You could get it, but it was easy to trace. But it wasn't any good being freak smart if you couldn't get around things like that... Oh, yeah, she needed to think about using somebody else to do the research, too. Too dangerous having tracks that led right back here to the Glass House...**

**Claire went to work. She didn't even notice Eve going and shutting the door behind her.**

**For four days, Claire studied. Four solid days. Eve brought her up soup and bread and sandwiches, and Shane dropped by once or twice to tell her she was crazy and he wanted her to stay the hell out of his business; Claire didn't pay any attention. She got like that when she was completely inside of something.**

**She heard him, and she said something back, but no way was she listening. Like her parents, Shane eventually gave up and went away.**

**Michael came to her room just a little before dawn. That one surprised her long enough to drag her out of her trance for a while. "How's it going?" he asked.**

**"Mission save Shane? Yeah, it's going," she said. "I have to work the long way around. No traces. Don't worry - even if the vamps get angry, they won't be able to prove we did anything but bring them what we thought they were looking for."**

**Michael looked pleased, but worried. He worried a lot. She supposed that being trapped the way he was, that was really all he could do - fight anything that got inside to hurt them, and worry about everything else. Frustrating, she guessed.**

**"Hey," she said, "when does Eve go to work?"**

**"Four o'clock."**

**"But that's -"**

**"The night shift. I know. She's safe enough there, though, and I don't think any vamp is stupid enough to try to get in the way of that damn car. It's like being run over by a Hummer. I made her promise that Oliver would walk her to the car, and Shane's going to get her from the sidewalk inside."**

**Claire nodded. "I'm going with her."**

**"To the coffee shop? Why?"**

**"Because it's anonymous," she said. "Every college student in there has a laptop, and the place has free wireless. If I'm careful, they won't be able to trace who's looking up how to fake-age a book."**

**He gave her an exasperated look. On him, it looked cute. God. She was still noticing. She really needed to stop that, but hey. Sweet sixteen and never been kissed..."**

"Seriously you'd never been kissed that's weird." Said Caitlin.

"So your 795 and you've never had a really relationship or been married so there and had S.E.X." Cruz said and it made all the others laugh and it made Caitlin angry and she attacked Cruz and they started fighting but no one moved so I kept reading as they fought outside in the streets.

**"I don't like Eve out there at night. You're definitely not going."**

**"If I do it here, everybody could be in danger. Including Eve."**

**Oh, low blow - she saw his eyes shift, but he toughed it out. "So your answer is that I let you go out there, risk your life, sit in a coffee shop with Brandon, and pretend like that's safer? Claire. In no way does that equal safer."**

**"Safer than the vampires deciding that everybody in this house deliberately set out to cheat them out of the thing they want most," Claire said. "We're not playing, are we? I mean, I can stop if you want, but we don't have anything else we can trade for Shane's deal. Nothing big enough. I'd let Brandon - you know - but somehow I don't think -"**

**"Over my - "Michael stopped and laughed. "I was going to say, 'Over my dead body,' but -"**

**Claire winced.**

**"No," he said.**

**"You're not my dad," she pointed out, and all of a sudden...remembered.**

**Shane, at the hospital, when she'd been drugged up, had said, they called your parents. Also, she distinctly remembered the words freaked out.**

**Oh, crap!**

**"Dad," she said aloud. "Oh no...Um, I need to use the phone. Can I?"**

**"Calling your parents? Sure. Long distance -"**

**"Yeah, I know. I'll pay for it. Thanks."**

**She picked up the cordless phone and dialled her home number. It rang five times, then flipped over to the machine. "Hello, you've reached Les and Katharine Danvers and their daughter, Claire. Leave us a message!" It was her mom's bright, business-like voice. When the beep sounded, Claire had a second of blind panic. Maybe they were just out shopping. Or...**

**"Hi, Mom and Dad, its Claire. I just wanted to - um - say hi. I should have called you, I guess. That lab accident thing, that was nothing, really. I don't want you to be worried about me - everything's just fine. Really."**

**Michael, leaning against the doorframe, was making funny faces at her. That seemed like Shane's job, somehow. She stuck her tongue out at him."**

"That is my job now but oh well Michael can't make her laugh like I can." Shane stated.

"True you should be a comedian the way you talk." Eve said.

"You're nice." Shane said.

**"I just - I just wanted to say that. Love you. Bye."**

**She hung up. Michael said, "You ought to get them to come and take you home."**

**"And leave you guys in this mess? You're in it because of me. Shane's in it because of me. Now that Monica knows he's back..."**

**"Oh, believe me, I'm not underestimating how much trouble we're in, but you can still go. And you should. I'm going to try to convince Shane to get out, too. Eve - Eve won't go, but she should."**

**"But -" That leaves you alone, she thought. Really alone. There was no getting out for Michael. Not ever."**

"Well not ever because I can now because I turned a vamp." Michael stated.

"**Michael looked up and out the window, where the sky was gradually washing from midnight blue to a paler dawn." My time's up," he said. "Promise me you won't go with Eve tonight."**

**"I can't."**

**"Claire."**

**"I can't," she said. "I'm sorry."**

**He didn't have time to argue, though she could see he wanted to. He walked down the hall; she heard his bedroom door close, and thought about what she'd seen downstairs in the living room. She wasn't sure how she'd handle that if she had to face it every day - it looked really painful." **

"Cruz had to die every lifetime in different ways like when it was 1536…" said Calleigh.

"Wait that was when Anna Boleyn was executed wasn't it?" Eve interrupted.

"Yes but it was also when Cruz was executed by the name of Anna Boleyn because that was the name that she went by." Said Calleigh.

"Seriously she was Anna Boleyn?" said Shane.

"Yes I was then but that was a long time ago." Said Cruz who entered in with Caitlin they sat down and I continued reading.

"**She supposed the worst of it, though, was his knowing that if he'd been alive, been able to walk around in the daylight, he'd have been able to stop Shane from doing what he'd done.**

**I wouldn't have to if you'd step up and watch my back! Shane had yelled at him, and yeah, that must have hurt just about worse than dying.**

**Claire went back to work. Her eyes burned, her muscles ached, but in some strange and secret place, she was happy to finally be doing something that wasn't just protecting herself, but protecting other people, too.**

**If it worked.**

**The strange thing was, she just knew it would. She knew.**

**She really was a freak, she decided."**

The boys Shane and Michael and Eve hugged Cruz and she hugged them back.

"**Claire woke up at three thirty, bleary-eyed and aching, and struggled into a fresh T-shirt and a pair of jeans that badly needed washing. One more day, she decided, and then she'd brave the washing machine in the basement. She had monster bed-head, even though she'd barely slept for three hours, and had to stick her head under the faucet and finger fluff her hair back to something that wasn't too puke-worthy.**

**She stuck the laptop into the messenger-bag case and dashed downstairs; she could hear Eve's shoes clumping through the house, heading for the door.**

**"Wait up!" she yelled, and pelted down the stairs and through the living room just as the front door slammed. "Crap..."**

**She opened it just before Eve succeeded in locking it. Eve looked guilty. "You were going to leave me," Claire said. "I told you I wanted to go!"**

**"Yeah, well...you shouldn't."**

**"Michael talked to you last night."**

**Eve sighed and fidgeted one black patent leather shoe. "Little bit, yeah. Before he went to bed."**

**"I don't need everybody protecting me. I'm trying to help!"**

**"I get it," Eve said. "If I say no and drive off, what are you going to do?"**

**"Walk."**

**"That's what I was afraid of." Eve shrugged. "Get in the car."**

**Common Grounds was packed with students reading, chatting, drinking chai and mochas and lattes.**

**And, Claire was gratified to see, working on laptops. There must have been a dozen going at once. She gave Eve a thumbs-up, ordered a cup of tea, and went in search of a decent spot to work. Something with her back to the wall.**

**Oliver brought her tea himself. She smiled uncertainly at him and minimized the browser window; she was reading up on famous forgeries and techniques. Dead giveaway, with emphasis on dead. **

"And you call yourself smart when you said that was safe you just said that it was 'dead giveaway'." Michael said.

**Not that she disliked Oliver, but any guy who seemed to be able to enforce rules on the vampires was somebody she couldn't trust real far.**

"Very good idea" Eve said.

A very good idea I wouldn't trust him, ever." Shane said.

**"Hello, Claire," he said. "May I sit?"**

**"Sure," she said, surprised. Also, uncomfortable. He was old enough to be her dad, not to mention kind of hippie-dippy. Though, being a freak herself, she didn't mind that part so much. "Um, how's it going?"**

**"Busy today," he said, and settled into the chair with a sigh of what sounded like gratitude. "I wanted to talk to you about Eve."**

**"Okay," she said slowly.**

**"I'm concerned about her," Oliver said. He leaned forward, elbows on the table; she hastily closed the cover of the laptop and rested her hands protectively on top of it. "Eve seems distracted. That's very dangerous, and I'm quite sure that by now you understand why."**

**"It's -"**

**"Shane?" he asked. "Yes. I thought that was probably the case. The boy's gotten himself into a great deal of trouble. But he did it with a pure heart, I believe."**

"Course I did I was protecting Claire and I'd do it again." Shane said.

"And Claire can protect herself thanks." Cruz said.

"Well then you couldn't and you can now."

**Her pulse was hammering faster and her mouth felt dry. Boy, she really didn't like talking to authority figures. Michael was one thing - Michael was like a big brother. But Oliver was...different.**

**"I might be able to help," Oliver said, "if I had something to trade. The problem is, what does Brandon want that you, or Shane, can give? Other than the obvious." Oliver looked thoughtful, and tapped his lips with a fingertip. "You are a very bright girl, Claire, or so Eve tells me. Morganville can use bright girls. We might be able to bypass Brandon altogether, perhaps, and find a way to make a deal with someone...else."**

**Which was pretty much exactly what they'd already talked about, only without the Oliver part? Claire tried not to look horribly guilty and transparent. "Who?" she asked. It was a reasonable question. Oliver smiled, and his dark eyes looked sharp and cool.**

**"Claire. Do you really expect me to tell you? The more you know about this town, the less safety there is for you. Do you understand that? I've had to create my own peace here, and it only works because I know exactly what I'm doing, and how far I can go. You - I'm afraid your first mistake might be your last."**

**Her mouth wasn't dry anymore; it was mummified. She tried to swallow, but got nothing but a dry click at the back of her throat. She hastily picked up her tea and sipped it, tasting nothing but glad of the moisture.**

**"I wasn't going to - "**

**"Don't," he cut her off, and his voice wasn't so kind this time. "Why else would you be here today, when you know Brandon is likely to show up any time after dark? You want to make a deal with him to save Shane. That much is obvious."**

**Well, it wasn't why she was here, but still, she tried to look guilty about that, too. Just in case. It must have worked, because Oliver sat back in his chair, looking more relaxed.**

**"You're clever," he said. "So is Shane. But don't let it go to your heads. Let me help."**

**She nodded, not trusting her voice not to quiver or break or - worse - betray how relieved she was.**

**"That's settled, then," Oliver said. "Let me talk to Brandon and a few others, and see what I can do to make this problem go away."**

**"Thanks," she said faintly. Oliver got up and left, looking like any skinny ex-hippie who hadn't quite let go of the good old days. Inoffensive. Ineffective, maybe.**

**She couldn't rely on adults. Not for this. Not in Morganville.**

**She opened up the laptop, maximized the browser window, and went back to work.**

**Like always, time slipped away; when she looked up next, it was night outside the windows, and the crowd in the coffee shop had switched over from studious to chatty. Eve was busy at the bar, talking and smiling and generally being about as cheerful as a Goth chick could be.**

**She went quiet, though, when Brandon slouched in from the back room and took his accustomed seat at the table in the darkest corner. Oliver brought him some kind of drink - God, she hoped it wasn't blood or anything! - And sat down to have some intense and quiet conversation. Claire tried to look like she wasn't there. She and Eve exchanged a few glances between customers at the bar.**

**Putting together the book, Claire had learned during the long research marathon, was work for experts, not sixteen-year-old (nearly seventeen) wannabes."**

"Cruz you made 900 different books when Moby Dick in 1851." Said Carter.

"You made the book cover for Moby Dick?" asked Michael.

"Sure I did."

"**She could put something together, but - to her vast disappointment - anybody with an eye for rare books could spot a fake pretty easily, unless it was expertly done. She suspected that her leatherworking and bookbinding skills needed work.**

"Yeah they would after one hundred and sixty-one years they would." Cruz stated.

**All of which brought her back to square one, Shane Gets Bitten. Not acceptable.**

**A line in one of the dozens of windows she'd opened caught her eye. Nearly anything can be created for the movies, including reproductions of ancient books, because the reproduction only has to fool one of the senses: vision...**

**She didn't have time - or cash - to get some Hollywood prop house to make a book for her, but it gave her an idea.**

**A really good idea.**

**Or a really bad one, if it didn't work.**

**Nearly anything can be created for the movies.**

**She didn't need the book. She just needed a picture.**

**By the time midnight rolled around - and Common Grounds ushered the last caffeine addict out into the night - Claire was reasonably sure she could pull it off, and she was too tired to care if she couldn't. She packed up the laptop and leaned her head on her hand, watching while Eve cleaned up cups and glasses, loaded the dishwasher, chatted with Oliver, and deliberately ignored the dark shadow sitting in the corner.**

**Brandon hadn't taken off after his walking snacks. Instead, he kept sitting there, nursing a fresh cup of whatever it was he was drinking, smiling that cruel, weird little smile at Eve, then Claire, then Eve.**

**Oliver, drying ceramic cups, had been watching the watcher. "Brandon," he said, and tossed the towel across his shoulder as he began slotting cups into their pull racks. "Closing time."**

**"You didn't even call last round, old man," Brandon said, and turned that smile on Oliver.**

**Where it died, fast. After a moment of silence, Brandon stood up to stalk away.**

**"Wait," Oliver said, very quietly. "Cup."**

**Brandon looked at him in utter disbelief, then picked up the cup - disposable paper - and dumped it in the trash can. First time he'd bussed his own table in a few dozen years, Claire guessed. If ever.**

"Wait are you talking about Brandon the one you liked when you were 100?" asked Caitlin and Cruz nodded. The others looked at her like she was insane.

"What he was cute before he turned into a vamp." She said.

**She hid a nervous grin, because he didn't seem like the kind of guy - much less vamp - who'd appreciate her sense of humour.**

**"Anything else?" Brandon asked acidly. Not as if he actually cared.**

**"Actually, yes. If you wouldn't mind, I'd like the ladies to leave first."**

**Even in the shadows, Claire saw the gleam of sharp teeth when Brandon silently opened his mouth - flashing his fangs. Showing off. Oliver didn't seem impressed.**

**"If you wouldn't mind," he repeated. Brandon shrugged and leaned against the wall, arms folded. He was wearing a black leather jacket that drank in light, a black knit shirt, dark jeans. Dressed to kill, Claire thought, and wished she hadn't.**

**"I'll wait," he said. "But they don't need to worry about me, old man. The boy made a deal. I'll stick to it."**

**"That's what I'm worried about," Oliver said. "Eve, Claire, get home safe. Go."**

**Eve slammed the door on the dishwasher and turned it on; she grabbed her purse from behind the counter and ducked out to take Claire's hand and pull her toward the door. She flipped the front sign from OPEN to CLOSED and unlocked the door to let Claire out. She locked it back behind them with a set of keys, then hustled Claire quickly to the car, which sat in the warm glow of the streetlight. The street looked deserted; wind whipped trash and dust into clattering ghosts, and the blinking red stoplights danced and swayed along. Eve unlocked the car in record time, and both of them slammed down the locks once they were inside. Eve started up the Caddy and motored away from the curb; only then did she sigh a little in relief.**

**And then she gasped, because another car turned the corner and whipped past them in a black blur, stopping at the curb where they'd been parked. "What the hell?" Eve blurted, and slowed down. Claire turned to look back.**

**"It's a limo," she said. She didn't even think Morganville had a limo, but then she thought about funeral homes and funerals, and got chills. For all she knew, maybe Morganville had more limos than any city in Texas...**

"That was Amelie's limo wasn't it the one we saw then Eve?" Cruz asked.

"Yeah it was and really then she hardly went out that I knew of." Eve replied.

**This one wasn't part of a procession, though. It was big and black and gleamed like the finish on a cockroach, and as the Caddy inched along, Claire saw a uniformed driver get out and walk around to the back.**

**"Who is it?" Eve asked. "Can you see?"**

**The driver handed out a woman. Small - not much taller than Claire herself, she guessed. Pale, with hair that glowed white or blond in the streetlights. They were too far for Claire to get a really good look, but she thought the woman looked...sad. Sad, and cold.**

**"She's not very tall - white hair? And kind of elegant?"**

**Eve shrugged. "Nobody I've met, but most of the vamps don't mingle with the little people. Kind of like the Hiltons don't shop at Wal-Mart."**

**Claire snorted. As Eve turned the corner, she saw the woman standing in front of the door of Common Grounds, and saw Oliver opening it for her. No sign of Brandon. She wondered if Oliver had already sent him out, or if he was making the vamp give them a head start. "How does Oliver do this?" she asked. "I mean, why don't they just...?"**

**"Kill him? I wish I knew. He's got balls of platinum, for one thing," Eve said. Passing streetlights stroked across her face. "You saw how he did Brandon back there? Dissing him? Unbelievable. Anybody else would be dead by dawn. Oliver...just gets away with it."**

**Which made Claire even more curious about the why. Or at least the how. If Oliver could get away with it, maybe other people could, too. Then again, maybe other people had already tried, and ended up as organ donors.**

**Claire turned back face forward, lost in thought, as Eve sped through the silent, watching streets for home. A police car prowled a side street, but somehow in Morganville she thought they weren't looking so much for criminals as potential victims.**

**At first, she thought she was so tired she was imagining things - that happened when you didn't sleep; you saw ghosts in mirrors and spooky faces at the window - but then she saw something moving fast through the glow of a streetlight. Something pale.**

**"They're following," Eve said grimly. "Damn."**

**"Brandon?" Claire tried to scan the sides of the street, but Eve pressed the gas and went faster.**

**"Not Brandon. Then again, he doesn't have to get his fangs dirty personally - "**

**Fifty feet ahead, someone stepped in front of the car.**

**Claire and Eve screamed, and Eve stamped on the brakes. Claire pitched forward against the seat belt, which snapped tight and grabbed so hard she just knew she was going to pass out from pain as the acid burn on her back rubbed against the seat. But the pain flashed away, buried by fear, because the car was fishtailing to a stop on the dark street, and there was a vampire standing there, resting its hands on the hood.**

**Grinning with way, way too many teeth.**

**"Claire!" Eve yelled. "Don't look at him! Don't look!"**

**Too late. Claire had, and she felt something going soft in her head. The fear went away. So did all her good sense. She reached for the lock on the door, but Eve lunged across and grabbed her arm. "No!"**

**She screamed, and held on as she slammed the car into reverse and burned rubber backward. She didn't get far. Another vampire stepped out, blocking the street. This one was tall, ugly, and old. Same number of gleaming teeth. "Oh, God..."**

**Claire kept fumbling for the lock on the door. Eve muttered something that would have definitely gotten Claire grounded at home, hit the brakes again, and said, "Claire, honey, this is going to hurt," and then she pushed Claire forward and slapped her on the burn. Hard."**

"Man that really hurt enough to knock me out of the trance and thanks Eve but you could have just pinched me." Cruz said.

"Sorry CB." Replied Eve.

"**Claire screeched loud enough to deafen dogs three counties away, nearly fainted, and quit trying to get out of the car. Even the two vampires outside the car - who were all of a sudden right there at the doors - flinched and stepped back.**

**Eve gunned the engine. Claire, half fainting from the red-hot throbbing agony in her back, heard noise like iron nails on a chalkboard, but then it stopped and they were moving, driving, flying through the night.**

**"Claire? Claire?" Eve was shaking her by the other shoulder, the one that didn't feel like she'd taken another acid bath. "Oh, God, I'm sorry! It was just - he was going to get you to open the door, and I couldn't - I'm sorry!"**

**Panic was still a hot wire through her nerves, but Claire managed a nod and a weak, sick smile. She understood. She'd always wondered how in the hell anybody could be stupid enough to open up a door to the scary bad thing in the movies, but now she knew. She absolutely knew.**

**Sometimes, you just didn't have a choice.**

**Eve was gasping for breath and crying furiously in between. "I hate this," she said, and slammed her hand into the hard plastic steering wheel, over and over. "I hate this town! I hate them!"**

**Claire got that. She was starting to really hate them, too.**

**End of chapter ten. **

That was great wasn't it and it seems to be time for bed."

"Yes come on let's go and we can read the rest tomorrow." Cruz said. The others walked off upstairs and Crux stayed and hugged us all and said her goodnight and we walked out and into the garden and started the hunt for Bishop that was what we had promised Amelie we would.

_**The end!**_


	12. Is she physic?

_**Book: Glass House Chapter eleven**_

_**Chapter eleven **_

_**Cade Pov: **_

The night was long as we hunted down Bishop but we had no luck, so we went back to the Glass House and it was morning and food was ready by Michael and Cruz. We ate fast and I offered to read the book.

"**Chapter eleven…**

**Shane was in the doorway, ready for action, when Eve screeched the car to a stop; if he was still mad, at least he wasn't letting it get in the way of a good fight. Eve frantically signalled for him to stay where he was, on safe ground, and checked the street on all sides.**

**"Do you see anything?" she asked Claire anxiously. Claire shook her head, still sick. "Damn. Damn! Okay...but you know the drill, right? Asses and elbows. Bail!"**

"When was that ever the drill you get a stake and you kill them that's the drill." Shane said and I had to agree I hated Vamps maybe not Michael he was ok and well Claire I mean Cruz wasn't that much into killing things.

"**Claire fumbled open the lock, bolted out of the car, and hit the sidewalk running. She heard Eve's door slam and running footsteps. Dej vu, she thought. Now all they needed was for Brandon to show up and act like a total asshole..."**

"Cruz you do not use that kind of language." Said mother, like she cared**. **

"**She nearly ran into Shane as she pelted across the threshold; he stepped out of the way in time, just far enough to let her pass, and grabbed Eve to pull her inside as he slammed the door and locked it."**

"You know that doesn't help they could still get in back then and now it doesn't matter they could break the door down." I said and everyone looked at me. "What it's true tell them Cruz."

"It's true."

**"You have got to get a better job," he said. Eve wiped at her ruined makeup with the back of one hand and threw him a filthy look.**

**"At least I have a job!"**

**"What, professional blood donor? Because that's all you're going to be if you -"**

**Claire turned, ran into a vampire, and screamed her lungs out.**

"You thought Mir was a vamp really she look a little like one but she wasn't." Eve said.

"Well I was new at all this and she scared me and as you said she looked like one a little." Cruz said. "And I'm sorry but she really scared me."

**Okay, so she wasn't a vampire.**

**That was established in about thirty more seconds by a combination of Shane doubling over with laughter, the vampire screaming in fright and cowering, and - last of all - Eve saying, in blank surprise, "Miranda! Honey, what the hell are you doing here?"**

**The vamp - she looked like a vamp, Claire amended, but now that her heart rate was going down below race-car speeds she saw that it was makeup and drama, not nature - slowly lowered her arms, peered at Claire uncertainly through thick black mascaraed eyelashes, and made a little O with her ruby red lips. "I had to come," she said. She had a breathy, floaty voice, full of drama. "Oh, Eve! I had such a terrible vision! There was blood and death, and it was all about you!"**

**Eve didn't seem impressed. She sighed, turned to Shane, and said, "You let her in? I thought you hated her!"**

"So she wasn't a friend of your?" Shane, "You have a go at me because you didn't like her."

"Of course but it was bothering about how we were going to get her home." Eve replied.

**"Couldn't leave her out there, could I? I mean, she's got a pulse. Besides, she's your friend."**

**From the look Eve gave him, friend might have been stretching things.**

**Miranda gave Shane a loopy smile."**

"How did she give me a loopy smile?" Shane asked.

"She just did ok she had a loopy smile that was directed at you." Said Cruz.

"**Great, Claire thought, annoyed and disgusted and still trying to contain the aftermath of a nuclear terror explosion. The girl was tall and most of her was thin, stork like legs revealed by a black leather miniskirt. She had lots of makeup, the standard dyed-black hair, shag cut around a long white face. Ragged Magic Marker crosses drawn on her wrists and around her neck.**

**Miranda suddenly swung around and looked up at the ceiling. She raised her hands to her mouth in dread, but, Claire noticed, didn't smudge her lipstick. "This house," she said. "Oh my. It's so...strange. Don't you feel it?"**

**"Mir, if you wanted to warn me about something, you could have called," Eve said, and steered her into the living room. "Now we've got to figure out how to get you home. Honestly, don't you have any sense? You know better than this!"**

**As Miranda sat down on the couch, Claire caught sight of something else on her neck...bruises. And in the centre of the bruises, two raw, red holes.**

**Eve saw it, too, and blinked, looked at Shane, and then at Claire. "Mir?" she asked gently, and turned the girl's chin to one side. "What happened to you?"**

"She was stupid and got bitten by that dead loser Charles." Shane said and Cruz hit him. "Well she was being stupid she shouldn't have gotten bitten."

"I know that but she was young she thought she was in love, you can't really say you've never done anything stupid for me?" Cruz said.

"Sure I got myself stabbed and it saved you and Eve didn't it?" Shane said.

"It almost killed you." Cruz said.

**"Nothing," Miranda said. "Everything. You've really got to try it. It's everything I dreamed it would be, and for a second I could see, I could really see -"**

**Eve let go of her like she'd caught on fire. "You let somebody bite you?"**

**"Just Charles," Miranda said. "He loves me.** **But Eve, you have to listen - this is serious! I tried to call, but I couldn't get anyone, and I had this terrible dream -"**

**"Thought you said it was a vision," Shane said. He'd followed Claire into the room and was standing near her, arms folded. She felt a little bit of the tight knot of anger and tension unravels at his closeness, even if he wasn't looking at her. Yeah, Claire, way to go. He treats you like the furniture. Maybe you need some hooker lipstick and Kleenex in your bra, too.**

"What I do?" Shane said.

"I liked you remember and well let just say I was trying to fight it because it was you." Cruz said.

"Thanks and you felt like tarting yourself up so I'd notice you in a different way?" Shane asked.

"Yes that was what I thought." Cruz replied.

"Well don't like you the way you are." He said. They started to kiss passionately and it was gross.

"Can we get on with the story please?" Said Eve.

**"Don't, Shane, she's been through hell - " Eve evidently remembered, too late, that whatever Miranda had been through, it waited for Shane, too, unless they could somehow negate his deal with Brandon.**

**"Um, right. Vision. What did you see, Mir?"**

**"Death." Miranda said it with hushed relish, leaning forward and rocking gently back and forth. "Oh, he fought, he didn't want it, didn't want the gift, but...and there was blood. Lots of blood. And he died...right...here." She put out a hand and pointed to a spot on the floor covered by a throw rug.**

**Claire realized, with a sinking sense of horror that she was probably talking about Michael.**

**"Is it - is it Shane? Are you seeing Shane's future?" Eve asked.**

**She sounded spooked, but then, they'd had a spooky night all around. And worrying about Shane made sense.**

**"She can't see the future," Shane said flatly. "She makes crap up. Right, Mir?"**

**Miranda didn't answer. She craned her neck up and looked at the ceiling again. Claire realized, with a strange creepy sensation, that she was looking exactly at where the secret room would be. Did Miranda know? How?**

**"This house," she said again. "This house is so strange. It doesn't make sense, you know."**

**There was a creak on the stairs, and Claire looked over to see Michael padding down to join them, barefoot as usual. "Yeah," he said. "It's not the only one. Eve, what the hell is she doing here?"**

**"Don't ask me! Shane let her in!"**

**"Hello, Michael," Miranda said absently. She was still staring at the ceiling. "This one's new." She waved at Claire.**

**"Yeah. That's Claire." He hadn't exactly come bounding to the rescue when Claire had screamed, and she wondered why. Maybe he'd been trying to stay away from Miranda; she understood why he'd want to. Talk about freaky weird...even Eve seemed not quite sure what to do with her."**

I had to ask, "Why is she so weird exactly?" they all looked at me and they seemed to understand my curiosity.

"Not sure but she seemed to be a little accurate like when it was the ball I sat next to her and she saw exactly what would happen just not fully." Cruz said.

"Its rubbish she can't she just wants you to believe." Shane argued.

"No because I went shopping with her once and she had a vision of her breaking her nose also that Gina got into a car crash." Cruz argued back.

"**She realized he hadn't heard Miranda's eerie description of his death. Maybe that was for the best.**

**"Claire," Miranda whispered, and suddenly looked directly at her. She had pale blue eyes, really strange.**

**They seemed to look right through her. "No, it's not her, not her. Something else. Something strange in this house. Something not right. I need to read the cards."**

**"The hell?" Shane asked. Miranda grabbed Eve's hand and jumped up, and practically dragged her to the stairs. "Okay, now this is just too much. Eve?"**

**"Um...right, it's okay!" Eve called back, as Miranda practically yanked her arm out of its socket. "She just wants to do some tarot or something. It's okay! I'll bring her back down! Just a sec!"**

**Shane, Michael, and Claire just looked at one another for a few seconds, and then Shane made a loopy gesture at his temple and whistled.**

**Michael nodded. "She didn't use to be that bad," he said.**

**"I guess it's this Charles guy she was talking about," Shane said grimly. "Should have known that if anybody would hook up with a bloodsucker for troo wuv" - Shane made it sound ridiculous - "it'd be some ditz like Miranda. I should have made her walk home. She'd probably get off on another bite."**

**"She's a kid, Shane," Michael said. "But the sooner we get her out of here, the better I'll feel. She gets Eve a little - nervous."**

**Eve? But Eve didn't really believe all that crap, did she?"**

"Hey I may be out the room but it doesn't mean you can talk about me and I don't it just seems to help in parts of my life." Eve stated.

"But seriously it seems so stupid that some kid can tell the future but my sister can't." I said.

"Can Claire tell the future?" Eve seemed impressed by this.

"Yes I can tell the future with a small spell, and I'll show you later." Cruz said.

"**Claire had become convinced that it was just costuming, that underneath, Eve was just a normal girl after all, all the Goth stuff just posturing. But did she really believe in visions and crystals and tarot cards? Magic was just science misunderstood, she reminded herself. Or, on the other hand, just crazy talk.**

**The two boys looked at Claire. "What?" she asked. "Oh, by the way, I'm fine, thanks for asking. Got chased by some vampires. Business as usual."**

**"Told you not to go," Shane said,** **and shrugged. "So, who's going to get Miranda to leave?"**

**They kept looking at her, and Claire finally understood that somehow, it had become her job. Probably because she was new, and didn't know Miranda, and she was a girl. Michael was too polite to ask her to go. Shane - she couldn't tell what Shane felt about Miranda, except that he wanted her the hell out of the house.**

**"Fine," Claire said. "I'll go."**

**"That girl's smart," Shane said without smiling, to Michael, as she started up the steps.**

**"Yep," Michael agreed. "I like that about her."**

**The bedroom doors were all closed except for Eve's, which was casting a flickering light out onto the polished wood floor. Claire smelled the bright flare of matches. They were lighting candles.**

**Oh, she really didn't want to do this. Maybe if she just kept walking, went to her room, and locked the door...?**

**She took a deep breath and looked around the doorway with a smile that felt totally forced. Eve was lighting the candles - and boy, she had a lot of them, sitting basically everywhere. Big tall black ones, purple ones, blue ones. Nothing in the pastel family. Her bed was black satin, and there was a pirate flag - skull and crossbones - hanging above it like a billowing headboard. Little Christmas lights strung everywhere - no, not Christmas lights after all. Halloween pumpkins and ghosts and skulls. Cheery and strange.**

**"Hey," Eve said, not looking up from the black pillar candle she was lighting. "Come on in, Claire. I guess you haven't really met Miranda exactly."**

**Not unless screaming and fleeing counted. "Hi," she said awkwardly. She didn't know what to do with her hands. Miranda didn't seem to notice or care, and her hands were up and in the air, petting some invisible cat or something. Weird. **

"Defiantly what was she doing Eve?" Michael asked.

"I have no idea." Eve replied.

**The longer that Claire was around the girl, the younger she looked - younger than Eve, for sure. Maybe even younger than Claire herself. Maybe it was all make-believe for her...except the bite. That was deadly serious stuff.**

**"Um...Eve? Can I talk to you for a sec?" Claire asked. Eve nodded, opened a black-painted dresser, and took out a black lacquer box. When opened, it had a blood red interior. There was a black silk package inside, which, as Eve unwrapped it, proved to be a deck of cards.**

**Tarot cards.**

**Eve held them between her two palms for a few seconds, then cut the deck several times and handed it to Miranda. "I'll be right back," she said, and went out into the hall with Claire, closing the door behind her. Before Claire could say anything, Eve held up her hand. She wouldn't meet Claire's eyes. "The guys sent you up?" At Claire's nod, she muttered, "Pussy's, both of them. Fine. They want her out, right?"**

"Hey we are not, we just well don't like Mir she's weird and Claire needed the experience of throwing someone out." Shane said.

"Thanks but I had an inn once I know how to throw someone out with my own hands, I did it to Caleb once." Cruz said.

**"Um...yeah. I guess." Claire rocked uncomfortably back and forth. "She is a little...weird."**

**"Miranda's - yeah, she's weird. But she's also kind of gifted," Eve said. "She sees things. Knows things. Shane ought to get that. She told him about the fire before - "Eve shook her head. "Doesn't matter. If she came all the way over here in the dark, something's wrong. I should try to find out what."**

**"Well...can't you just, you know, ask her?"**

**"Miranda's a psychic," she said. "It's not that simple - she can't just blurt it out. You have to work with her."**

**"But - she can't really see the future, right? You don't believe that?" Because if you do, Claire thought, you're crazier than I thought you were when I first met you."**

"Excuse me you thought I was crazy?" Eve spat out.

"Only a little wit the whole vamp thing but that was only a little." Cruz said.

"**Eve finally met her eyes. Angry. "Yes. Yes, I do believe that, and for a smart kid you're pretty dumb if you don't understand that science isn't perfect. Things happen. Things that physics and math and crap that gets measured in a lab can't explain. People aren't just laws and rules, Claire. They're...sparks. Sparks of something beautiful and huge. And some of the sparks glow brighter, like Miranda." Eve looked away again, obviously uncomfortable now. But not half as uncomfortable as Claire felt, because this was...wow. Space cadet city. "You guys just leave us alone for a little while. It'll be fine."**

**She went back into the room and shut the door. It wasn't quite a slam. Claire swallowed hard, feeling hot all over and wishing she hadn't let the boys push her into that, and slowly went back down the stairs.**

**Michael and Shane were sitting on the couch and playing a video game with open beers on the table in front of them. Elbowing each other as their on-screen cars raced around turns.**

**"Not exactly legal," she said, and sat down on the steps. "The beer. Nobody here's twenty-one."**

"Well maybe, maybe not but you were still Claire the sixteen year old." Michael said.

"well that's stupid so two eighteen year old boys got to drink cheap beer but me over that age couldn't?" Cruz said insulted.

"Like Mickey said you were the sixteen year old Claire." Shane pointed out.

"I give up on you two." Cruz said.

"**Michael and Shane clicked bottles. Honestly, it was juvenile. "Here's to crime," Shane said, and tipped his up. "Hey, it was a birthday present. Two six-packs. We're only one down, so give us a break. Morganville's got the highest alcoholics per capita of any place in the world, I'll bet."**

**Michael put the game on pause. "Is she leaving yet?"**

**"No."**

**"If she starts trying to tell me I'm going to meet a tall dark stranger, I'm leaving," Shane said. "I mean, the kid's a head case, and I don't want to be mean, but jeez. She really believes this stuff. And she's got Eve half-convinced, too."**

**There was no half about it, but Claire wasn't going to say that. She just sat there, trying not to think too hard about anything...about her plans to get Shane free of his agreement, which had seemed really good back in the coffee shop and not so solid now. About the dull-knife scrape of pain in her back. About the desperation in Eve's eyes. Eve was scared. And Claire didn't know how to help that, because she was scared half to death herself.**

**"She was looking at the secret room," Claire said. "When she was standing down here. She was staring right at it."**

**Michael and Shane looked at her. Two sets of eyes, both guilty and startled. And one by one, they shrugged and went for the beer. "Coincidence," Michael said.**

**"Total coincidence," Shane agreed.**

**"Eve said that Miranda had some kind of vision about you, Shane, when -"**

**"Not that again! Look, she said she had a vision of the house on fire, but she didn't say that until later, and even if she did, fat lot of good it did." Shane's jaw was tight. A muscle fluttered in it. He punched a button to release the game from pause, and road noise poured out of the television speakers, closing out any chance of conversation on the subject.**

**Claire sighed. "I'm going to bed."**

**But she didn't. She was tired, and aching, and jittery...but her brain was way too busy picking over things. She finally nudged Shane over on the couch and sat next to him as he and Michael played, and played, and played...**

**"Claire. Wake up." She blinked and realized that her head was on Shane's shoulder, and Michael was nowhere to be seen. Her first thought was, oh my God, am I drooling?"**

Everyone laughed as Cruz started blushing. "Hey that's not funny and Shane you should have woken me up or moved me." Cruz complained.

"I was busy winning the games and you were cute lying there next to me." He said and she kissed him softly on his lips. Again gross.

"**Her second was that she hadn't realized she was so close to him, snuggled in.**

**Her third was that although Michael's part of the couch was empty, Shane hadn't moved away. And he was watching her with warm, friendly eyes.**

**Oh. Oh, wow, that was nice."**

They kissed again as I read it was sweet to see my sister in love, again but it also made me think of the heartbreak that would follow after.

**"You should probably get some sleep," he said. "You're beat."**

**"Yeah," she said. "What time is it?"**

**"Three a.m. Michael's making a snack. You want anything?"**

**"Um...no. Thanks." She slid off the couch and then stood there like an idiot, unwilling to leave because he was still smiling and...She liked it. "Who won?"**

**"Which game?"**

**"Oh. I guess I was asleep for a while."**

**"Don't worry. We didn't let the zombies get you." This time, his smile was positively wicked. Claire felt it like a hot blanket all over her skin. "If you want to stay up, you can help me kick his ass."**

**There were not one but three empty beer bottles on the table in front of Shane. And three where Michael had been, too. No wonder Shane was still smiling at her, looking so friendly. "That depends," she said. "Can I have a beer?"**

**"Hell no."**

**"Because I'm sixteen? Come on, Shane."**

**"Drinking kill's brain cells, dumbass. And besides. If I give you one, that's one less for me." Shane tapped his forehead. "I can do the math."**

**She needed a beer, to stay down here next to him, because she was afraid she was going to do or say something stupid, and at least if there was alcohol involved, it wouldn't be her fault, would it? But just as she opened her mouth to try to convince him, Michael came out of the kitchen with a bag of neon-coluored cheese puffs. Shane grabbed a handful and stuffed his mouth. "Claire wants a beer," he mumbled through orange goo.**

**"Claire needs to go to bed," Michael said, and flopped down. "Scoot over, man. I don't like you that much."**

**"Dick. That's not what you said last night."**

**"Bite me."**

**"I want another beer."**

**"You're cut off. It was my birthday present, not yours."**

**"Oh, that's low. You really are a dick, and just for that, I'm totally thrashing you."**

**"Promises, promises." Michael glanced at Claire. "You're still here. No beer. I'm not corrupting a minor."**

**"But you're a minor," she pointed out. "At least for beer."**

**"Yeah, and by the way? How much does it suck that I'm an adult if I kill somebody, and not if I want a beer?" Shane jumped in. "They're all dicks."**

**"Man, seriously, you are one cheap drunk. Three beers? My junior high girlfriend could hold her liquor better."**

Everyone looked at him and he seemed put off that. "So I had a junior high girlfriend who drank beer so sue me."

**"Your junior high girlfriend -" Shane brought himself up short without finishing that sentence, and flushed bright red. Must have been good, whatever it was. "Claire, get the hell out of here. You're making me nervous."**

**"Dick!" she flung at him, and went up the stairs before he could nail her with the pillow he grabbed. It plunked into the wall behind her and slithered down to the bottom of the stairs. She was laughing, but she stopped when a shadow suddenly blocked access to the hallway at the top.**

**Eve. And Miranda, looking weirder than ever.**

**"Miranda's leaving!" Claire called down. Which wasn't such a great idea, because Eve looked upset, and Shane was drunk, and letting some vampire-crazy maybe-psychic kid walk home by herself was...bad, at best.**

**"Miranda's not leaving," Eve said, and clunked down the stairs, with Miranda drifting like a black-and-white ghost behind her. "Miranda's going to do a séance."**

**Below, in the living room, she heard Michael say, in outright horror, "Oh, shit."**

"Tell me about it there stupid, can she really tell the future or is she just messing around." I asked.

"Well she was kind of right about Michael's death but that's it she might have only small amounts of physic energy." Cruz replied.

_**The end**_


	13. Thank you

_**Book: Glass House Chapter twelve**_

_**Chapter twelve**_

_**Caoimhe Pov: **_

This was boring just sitting around thinking about what it was like for my sister to live in this house and be scared of these insects, I hated that I cared about my family. "So who will read?" Asked mother.

"I'll read" I offered. "**Eve was so intense about it that not even Shane, three beers down, was able to exactly say no."**

"Hay she be scary" Shane said.

"**Michael didn't say anything, just watched Miranda with eyes that were way too clear for somebody who'd had the same amount to drink as Shane. As Eve cleared stuff off the dining room table and set up a single black candle in the centre, Claire wrung her hands nervously, trying to get Michael's attention. When she did, she mouthed, what do we do?**

**He shrugged."**

"What could we do" he said to no one but well maybe Cruz.

"I know Michael." She replied.

"**Nothing, she guessed. Well, nobody but Eve believed in it, anyway. She supposed it couldn't really hurt.**

**"Okay," Eve said, and sat Miranda down in a chair at the end. "Shane, Michael, Claire - sit down."**

**"This is bullshit," Shane said.**

**"Just - please. Just do it, okay?" Eve looked stressed. Scared. Whatever she and Miranda had been doing upstairs with those tarot cards had really made her nervous. "Just do it for me."**

**Michael slid into the chair at the other end, as far from Miranda as he could get. Claire sat next to him, and Shane grabbed a seat on the other side, leaving Eve and Claire the closest to Miranda, who was shaking like she was about to have a fit.**

**"Hold hands," Eve said, and grabbed Miranda's left, then Shane's right. She glared at Claire until Claire followed suit, taking Miranda's other hand and Michael's. That left Shane and Michael, who looked at each other and shrugged.**

**"Whatever," Michael said, and took Shane's hand.**

**"Oh, God, guys, homophobic much? This isn't about you being manly men, it's about -"**

**"He's dead! I see him!"**

**Claire flinched"**

"Hay she scared me" Cruz said. "She screamed it out that put me off and anyway I saw Eve and you two boys do it so don't act all manly."

"We would never do that." Shane said sarcastically. Cruz gave him the death stare and it seemed to shut him up.

"**As Miranda practically screamed it out. All around the table, they froze. Even Shane. And then fought the insane urge to giggle - well, Claire did, and she could see Shane's shoulders shaking. Eve bit her lip, but there were tears in her eyes."**

"It was very funny" Eve said. And it seemed to be true and I would have laughed too.

**"Somebody died in this house! I see him. I see his body lying on the floor...," Miranda moaned, and thrashed around in her chair, twisting and turning. "It's not over. It's never over. This house - this house won't let it be over."**

"**Why is that you got saved by the house then Michael?" I asked. **

"**Claire do you wish to explain it." Michael pointed to Cruz. **

"**Chicken, fine the house saved him because there is a better brain that was Ada and Myrnin said it might have been because she liked him." Cruz explained. **

"**Claire, unable to stop herself, looked at Michael, who was staring at Miranda with cold, silted eyes. His hand was gripping Claire's tightly. When she started to say something, he squeezed it even more. Right.**

**Shutting up, she was.**

**Miranda wasn't. "There's a ghost in this house! An unquiet spirit!"**

**"Unquiet spirit?" Shane said under his breath. "Is that politically correct for pissed off? You know, like Undead American or something?"**

**Miranda opened her eyes and frowned at him. "Somebody already died," she proclaimed. "Right here. Right in this room. His spirit haunts this place, and it's strong."**

**They all just looked at one another. Michael and Claire avoided more eye contact, but Claire felt her breath get short and her heart race faster. She was talking about Michael! She knew! How was that even possible?**

**"Is it dangerous?" Eve asked breathlessly."**

"No I am not" Michael said. "She can't see anything and Eve seriously?"

"What I didn't know it was you." Eve argued.

"**Claire nearly choked.**

**"I - I can't tell. It's murky."**

"Lovely" Shane joked. "What its rubbish let's be fair she only does it for attention."

"**Shane said, "Right. Dead man walking, can't tell if he's dangerous because, wow, murky. Anything else?" And again, Claire had to choke back a hysterical giggle.**

**There was a bitter, unpleasant twist to Miranda's face now. "Fire," she said. "I see fire. I see someone screaming in the fire."**

**Shane yanked his hands away from Eve and Michael, slammed his chair back, and said, "Okay, that's it. I'm outta here. Feel free to get your psychic jollies somewhere else."**

**"No, wait!" Eve said, and grabbed for him. "Shane, wait, she saw it in the cards, too -"**

**He pulled free. "She sees whatever you want! And she gets off on the attention, in case you didn't notice! And she's a fang banger!"**

"Sorry Eve" Shane said. "I didn't mean it like that; it just doesn't help to hear it like that, the fact that she said it would happen."

"I know Shane, I understand." Eve replied.

**"Shane, please! At least listen!"**

**"I've heard enough. Let me know when you want to move on to table rapping or Ouija boards - those are a lot more fun. We could get some ten-year-olds to show us the ropes."**

**"Shane, wait! Where are you going?"**

**"Bed," he said, and went up the stairs. "Night."**

**Claire was still holding Michael's hand, and Miranda's. She let go of both, pushed her chair back, and went up after him. She heard his door slam before she made it to the top, and raced down the hall to bang her fist on the wood. There was no answer, no sound of movement inside.**

**Then she noticed that the picture on the wall hallway was crooked, and moved it to stare at the button underneath. Would he?**

**Of course he would.**

**She hesitated for a second, then pressed it. The panel across the hallway clicked open, letting out a breath of cold air, and she quickly slipped inside, latched it back, and went up the stairs.**

**Shane was lying on the couch, feet on the curved polished-wood armrest, one arm flung over his eyes."**

"Drama much" Eve joked.

"Come on Eve let's be fair it just reminded me of what happened to Alyssa." Shane replied to Eve and she seemed hurt but they seemed to understand each other.

**"Go away," he said. Claire eased herself down on the couch next to him, because his voice didn't sound, well, right. It was quiet and a little bit choked. His hand was shaking. "I mean it, Claire, go."**

**"The first time you met me, I was crying," she said. "You don't have to be ashamed."**

**"I'm not crying," he said, and moved his arm. He wasn't. His eyes were hot and dry and furious. "I can't stand that she pretends to know. She was Lyssa's friend. If she knew, if she really knew, she should have tried harder."**

**Claire bit her lip. "Do you mean she - ?" She couldn't even say it. Do you mean she tried to tell you?**

**And he couldn't admit it if she had. If he admitted that much...maybe his sister didn't have to be dead.**

**No, Claire couldn't say that. And he couldn't hear it.**

**Instead, she just reached out and took his hand. He looked down at their clasped fingers, sighed, and closed his eyes. "I'm drunk and I'm pissed off," he said. "Not the best company right now. Man, your parents would kill us all if they knew about any of this."**

**She didn't say anything, because that was absolutely true. And something she didn't want to think about.**

**She just wanted to sit here, in this silent room where time had frozen still, and be with him.**

**"Claire?" His voice was quieter. A little smeared with sleep. "Don't do that again."**

**"Do what?"**

**"Go out like you did tonight. Not at night."**

**"I won't if you won't."**

**He smiled, but didn't open his eyes. "No dates? What is this, the Big Brother house? Anyway, I didn't come back to Morganville to hide."**

**She was instantly curious."**

"What were you so curious about Claire?" Shane asked.

"Nothing really just the fact of why you came back to Morganville." Cruz responded. Shane gave the 'Sure you were' look and even I knew that she had found curious was the fact that he wouldn't have any dates from other human girls but Cruz.

"**Why did you come back?"**

**"Michael. I told you. He called, I came. It's what he'd do for me." Shane's smile faded. He was probably remembering Michael not answering the phone, not coming to the hospital. Not having his back.**

**"It's more than that," she said. "Or else you'd have just taken off by now."**

**"Maybe," Shane sighed. "Leave it, Claire. You don't have to dig into every secret around here, okay? It's not safe."**

**She thought about Michael. About the way he'd looked at Miranda across the séance table. "No," she agreed. "It's not."**

**They talked for hours, about pretty much nothing - certainly not about vampires, or sisters dying in fires, or Miranda's visions, obviously. Shane delved into what Claire had always thought were the Boy Classics: debates about whether Superman could take Batman ("Classic Batman or Badass Batman?"), movies they liked, movies they hated. Claire tried him on books. He was light on the classics, but who wasn't? (She wasn't, but she was a freak of nature.)"**

"Some vamps must know the classics and werewolves also they are boring." Shane said. I had to agree because well they just didn't appeal to some people they always appealed to Cruz.

"So I know everyone doesn't like the classics but you really were enjoying the debate about who would win against Batman or Superman and I still stand by me answer." Cruz replied.

"How can you say that Batman can't get killed by Kryptonite and Superman can it just doesn't make sense and Batman knows Superman's weakness." Shane argued.

"Yeah but Batman is human hasn't got any super powers unlike _Super_man and he could burn Batman till he's just bones and melted rubber." Cruz seemed to have a point and Shane didn't look like he was going to stop there.

"Stop you too and let… What's your name?" Eve asked me.

"My name is Caoimhe and thank you Eve." I replied.

"**He liked scary stories. They had that in common, too.**

**Time just didn't seem to pass at all in that little room. The talk seemed to keep going, spinning out of them on its own, gradually getting slower as the minutes and hours slipped away. She got cold and sleepy, and dragged an afghan off the arm of a nearby chair, spread it around her shoulders, and promptly dropped off to sleep sitting on the floor with her back against the settee, where Shane was lying.**

**She woke up with a start when the settee creaked, and she realized that Shane was getting up. He blinked, yawned, rubbed at his hair (which did very funny things when he did) and checked his watch.**

**"Oh, God, it's early," he groaned. "Hell. Well, at least I can grab the bathroom first."**

**Claire jumped to her feet. "What time is it?"**

**"Nine," he said, and yawned again."**

"I need to ask this how is that Early that's late for me." Cruz asked.

"Come on seriously I stay in bed till noon, three hours early." Shane replied.

"How can you stay in bed till then, you don't have enough time for that." Cruz said, but Shane had a point I hated waking up early but really noon.

"**She reached over him, pushed the hidden button, dashed past him to the door, barely remembering to shed the afghan on the way. "Hey! Dibs on the bathroom! I mean it!"**

**She wasn't worried about the bathroom so much as being caught. After all, she'd spent the entire night with a boy. A boy who'd been drinking. Most of that was against the house rules, she figured, and Michael would have freaked out if he'd known."**

_She always was like that always thinking that people cared about what she did, but it seemed that Eve and Michael would be either ghosting the house or at work for a daily pay so they wouldn't care what she did I guess if they were there maybe they would of cared but I'm sure they'd say they did if they cared. _

"**Well, Michael was back to incorporeal in the light of day, so at least she didn't have to worry about running into him...but she did need to decide what to do about school. This was already the worst academic week of her life, and she had the feeling it wasn't going to get any better unless she acted quickly. Shane had made a deal with the devil; it only made sense to take advantage of it, until she could find a way to cancel it. Monica and her girls wouldn't be after her - not in a lethal way. So there was no reason not to get her butt in the library.**

**She grabbed her clothes and jumped in the bathroom just as Shane, still yawning, stumbled out of the hidden room.**

**"But I called dibs!" he said, and knocked on the door. "Dibs! Damn girls don't understand the rules..."**

**"Sorry, but I need to get ready!" She cranked up the shower and skinned out of her old clothes in record time. The jeans really needed washing, and she was down to her last clean pair of underwear, too."**

Cruz started blushed at this but I read on.

"**Claire was in and out of the shower fast, trusting that the waterproof bandage they'd put on her back would hold (it did). In under five minutes she was fluffing her wet hair and sliding past Shane in a breathless rush to grab her backpack and stuff it with books.**

**"Where the hell are you going?" he asked from the doorway. He didn't sound sleepy now. She zipped the bag shut, hefted it on the shoulder that wasn't aching and complaining, and turned toward him without answering. He was leaning on the doorframe, arms folded, head cocked. "Oh, you've got to be kidding. **

**What've you got some kind of death wish? You really want to get knocked down another flight of stairs or something?"**

**"You made the deal. They won't come after me."**

**"Don't be dense. Leave that to the experts. You really think they don't have ways around it?"**

**She walked up to him, staring up into his face. He looked enormously tall. And he was big, and in her way.**

**And she didn't care.**

**"You made a deal," she said, "and I'm going to the library. Please get out of the way."**

**"Please? Damn, girl, you need to learn how to get mad or -"**

**She shoved him. It was dumb,"**

"You got that right that was dumb." Shane said.

"Oh shut up you had to understand that I wanted to help all of you because of what I'd done." Cruz replied.

"I know that, I'm just staying that you shouldn't have gone out you could of gotten killed." Shane replied.

"**And he had the muscle to stay right where he was, but surprise was on her side, and she got him to stumble a couple of steps back. She was already out the door and heading out, shoes in hand. She wasn't about to stop and give him another chance to keep her nice and safe.**

**"Hey!" He caught up, grabbed her arm, and spun her around. "I thought you said you wouldn't -"**

**"At night," she said, and turned to go down the stairs. He let go...and she slipped. For a scary second she was off-balance, teetering on the edge of the stairs, and then Shane's warm hands closed around her shoulders and pulled her back to balance.**

**He held her there for a few seconds. She didn't turn around, because if she did, and he was right there, well, she didn't know...**

**She didn't know what would happen.**

**"See you," she gulped, and went down the stairs as fast as she dared, on shaking legs."**

"So crushing I knew you were crushing on him," Eve said.

"No I wasn't it just kind of surprised me and it came over me suddenly ok." Cruz said.

"**The heat of the morning was like a toaster oven, only without any yummy food smells; **

**There were a couple of people out on the street. One lady was pushing a baby stroller, and for a second, while Claire was sitting down to put on her battered running shoes, she considered that with a kind of wonder. Having babies in a town like this. What were people thinking?"**

"Doesn't matter, does it really they want kinds I was born in 1362 in an old place it was gross and it never made me any different." Cruz said and it was true and it made me happy to see Cruz remember our family home that we'd lived in till the incident.

"**But she guessed they did it anywhere, no matter how horrible it was. And there was a bracelet around the woman's slender wrist.**

**The baby was safe, at least until it turned eighteen.**

**Claire glanced down at her own bare wrist, shivered, and put it out of her mind as she set off for campus.**

**Now that she was looking, just about every person she passed had something around his or her wrist - bracelets for the women, watchbands for the men. She couldn't tell what the symbols were. She needed to find some kind of alphabet; maybe somebody had done research and put it somewhere safe...somewhere the vampires wouldn't look.**

**She'd always felt safest at the library, anyway. She went straight there, watching over her shoulder for Monica, Gina, Jennifer, or anybody who looked remotely interested in her. Nobody did.**

**TPU's library was huge. And dusty. Even the librarians at the front looked like they might have picked up a cobweb or two since her last visit. More proof - if she'd needed it - that TPU was first, and only, a party school.**

**She checked the map for the shelves, and saw that the Dewey decimal system reigned in Morganville - which was weird, because she'd thought all the universities were on the Library of Congress system. She traced through the listings, looking for references, and found them in the basement.**

**Great.**

**As she started to walk away, though, she cocked her head and looked at the list again. There was something strange about it. She couldn't quite put her finger on it...**

**There wasn't a fourth floor. Not on the list, anyway, and Mr Dewey's system jumped straight from the third floor to the fifth. Maybe it was offices, she thought. Or storage. Or shipping. Or...coffins."**

"Why would there be coffins in a Library" Shane asked Cruz. I had to say that sounded strange.

"Sorry but I seemed logical at the same time stop making fun of me." Cruz whined.

"**It was definitely weird, though."**

"Got that right" Eve said.

"It was weird in that room," Cruz replied.

"**She started to take the stairs down to the basement, then stopped and tilted her head back. The stairs were old-school, with massive wooden railings, turning in precise L-shaped angles all the way up.**

**What the hell, she thought. It was only a couple of flights of stairs. She could always pretend she'd gotten lost.**

**She couldn't hear anything or anybody once she'd left the first floor. It was silent as - she hated to think it - the grave. She tried to go quietly on the stairs, and quit gripping the banister when she realized that she was leaving sweaty, betraying handprints behind. She passed the second-floor wooden door, and then the third. Nobody visible through the clear glass window.**

**The fourth floor didn't even have a door. Claire stopped, puzzled, and touched the wall. Nope, no door, no secrets she could see. Just a blank wall. Was it possible there was no fourth floor?**

**She went up to the fifth floor, made her way through the silent, dusty stacks to the other set of stairs, and went down. On this side, there was a door, but it was locked, and there weren't any windows.**

**Definitely not offices, she guessed.**

**But coffins weren't out of the question."**

"Again with the coffins" Shane said.

Both Eve and Cruz started slapping him not violently but playfully and it seemed to make some of my sisters and brothers laugh but Mother had her still face and my Father was trying not to laugh and I saw that the girls and Michael were laughing and it seemed to lighten the mood.

"**Dammit, she resented being scared in a library! Books weren't supposed to be scary. They were supposed to...help.**

**If she were some kick-ass superhero chick, she'd probably be able to pick the lock with a fingernail clipping or something. Unfortunately, she wasn't a superhero, and she bit her fingernails.**

**No, she wasn't a superhero, but she was something else. She was...resourceful.**

**Standing there, staring at the lock, she began to smile.**

**"Applied science," she said, and ran down the stairs to the first floor.**

**She had a stop to make in chem lab.**

**Her TA was in his office. "Well," he said, "if you really want to shatter a lock, you need something good, like liquid helium. But liquid helium isn't all that portable."**

**"What about Freon?" Claire asked.**

**"No, you can't get your hands on the stuff without a license. What you can buy is a different formulation, doesn't get as cold but it's more environmentally friendly. But it probably wouldn't do the job."**

**"Liquid nitrogen?"**

**"Same problem as helium. Too bulky."**

**Claire sighed. "Too bad. It was a cool idea."**

**The TA smiled. "Yes, it was. You know, I have a portable liquid-nitrogen tank I keep for school demonstrations, but they're hard to get. Pretty expensive. Not the kind of thing you'd find lying around. Sorry." He wandered off, intent on some postgrad experiment of his own, and he promptly forgot all about her. She bit her lip, stared at his back for a while, and then slowly...very slowly, moved back to the door that led to the supply room. It was unlocked so that the TA could easily move in and out if he needed to. Red and yellow signs on it warned that she was going to get cancer, suffocate, or die other horrible deaths if she opened the door...but she did it anyway."**

"Such a Claire thing to do" Eve said.

"What's that so post to mean?" Cruz relied.

"Oh nothing don't worry CB" Eve said and Cruz looked angry and she was going to get really angry and Chelsea saw this and so did Chester and they got up and ran to Cruz grabbing her and dragged her out and we all understood why but the humans and vampire didn't.

"Sorry about her she got angry it happens it doesn't matter and she just needed to calm down." I said and Chester came back with claw marks on his shirt exposing parts of his chest and it made him look less weak than he really was. Then Chelsea and Cruz came back with claw marks on their body healing and they looked sorry and Cruz went back to Shane, Eve and Michael and apologised to them and I continued reading.

"**It squeaked. The TA had to have heard it, and she froze like a mouse in front of an oncoming bird.**

**Guilty.**

**He didn't turn around. In fact, he deliberately kept his back to her.**

**She let out a shaky breath, eased into the room, and looked around. The place was neatly kept, all its chemicals labelled and stored with the safety information for each hanging below it. He stored in alphabetical order. She found the LIQUID NITROGEN sign and saw a bulky, very obvious tank...and a small one next to it, like a giant thermos, with a shoulder strap. She grabbed it, then read the sign. USE**

**PROTECTIVE GLOVES, the sign said. The gloves were right there, too. She shoved a pair in her backpack, slung the canister over her shoulder, and got the hell out of there.**

**The librarians didn't even give her a second look. She waved and smiled and went into the stacks, all the way to the back stairs.**

**The door was just as she'd left it. She fumbled on the gloves, opened the top of the canister, and found that there was a kind of steel pipette that fit into a nozzle. She made sure it was in place, then opened the valve, held her breath, and began pouring supercoiled liquid into the lock. She wasn't sure how much to use - too much was better than not enough, she guessed - and kept pouring until the outside of the lock was completely frosted. Then she cranked the valve shut, and - reminding herself to keep the gloves on - yanked on the doorknob.**

**Crack! It sounded like a gunshot. She jumped, looked around, and realized the knob had moved in her hand.**

**She'd opened the door.**

**Nothing to do now but go inside...but somehow, that didn't seem like such a great idea, now that she was actually able to do it.**

**Because...coffins. Or worse."**

"So again with the coffins and something worse would be what exactly" Shane said cheekily.

"I'm not sure maybe something like your breath in the morning" Cruz shot back and the others started laughing and Shane looked shocked and she hugged him apologising.

"**Claire sucked in a steadying breath, opened the door, and carefully looked around the edge.**

**It looked like a storeroom. Files. Stacks of cartons and wooden crates. No one in sight. Great, she thought. Maybe I did just break into the file room. That would be disappointing. Still, she stuffed the gloves in her backpack, just in case.**

**The cartons looked new, but the contents - when she unwrapped the string tying one closed - appeared old. Crumbling books, badly preserved. Ancient letters and papers in languages she couldn't read, some of which looked like ancestors of English. She tried the next box. More of the same. The room was vast, and it was full of this kind of stuff.**

**The book, she thought. They're looking for the book. Every old book they find comes here and gets examined. Now that she looked, she saw that the crates had small red X marks on them - meaning they'd been gone through? Initials, too. Somebody was being held accountable.**

**Which meant...somebody was working here.**

**She had just enough time to form the thought when two people walked out of the maze of boxes ahead of her. They weren't hurrying, and they weren't alarmed. Vampires. She didn't know how she knew - they weren't exactly dressed for the part - but the way they moved, loose and sure, screamed predator to her fragile-prey brain.**

**"Well," said the short blond girl, "we don't get many visitors here." Except for the pallor of her face and the glitter in her eyes, she looked like a hundred other girls out on the Quad. She was wearing pink. It seemed wrong for a vampire to be wearing pink."**

"I know what you mean" Eve said.

"It really looked like weird seeing her in that pink wear it was just so surreal." Cruz explained like it was Mother smiling. That made me giggle at the image everyone looked at me and I cleared my throat and kept on reading.

**"Did you take a wrong turn, honey?" The man was taller, darker, and he looked really odd...really dead.**

**It was because of his skin tone, she realized. He was black. Being a vampire bleached him, not to white, but to the colour of ashes. He had on a TPU purple T-shirt, grey sweatpants, and running shoes. If he'd been human, she'd have thought he was old - old enough to be a professor, at least.**

**They split up, coming at her from two different sides.**

**"Whose little one are you?" purred the pink girl, and before Claire could engage her brain to run, the girl had taken her left hand, examining her bare wrist. Then examining her right one. "Oh, my, you really are lost, sweetie. John, what should we do?"**

**"Well," John said, and put a friendly hand on Claire's shoulder. It felt colder than the liquid-nitrogen bottle hanging across her back. "We could sit down and have a nice cup of coffee. Tell you all about what we do in here. That's what you want to know, right? Children like you are just so darn curious." He was steering her forward, and Claire knew - just knew - that any attempt to pull free would result in pain. Probably broken bones.**

**"Yep" eve said.**

**Pink Girl still had hold of her other wrist, too. Her cool fingers were pressed against Claire's pulse point.**

**I need to get out of this. Fast.**

**"I know what you do here," she said. "You're looking for the book. But I thought vampires couldn't read it."**

**John stopped and looked at his companion, who raised pale eyebrows back at him. "Angela?" he asked.**

**"We can't," she said. "We're just here as...observers. And you seem very knowledgeable, for a free-range child. Under eighteen, aren't you? Shouldn't you be under someone's Protection? Your families?"**

**She seemed honestly concerned. That was weird. "I'm a student," Claire said. "Advanced placement."**

**"Ah," Angela said, and looked kind of regretful. "Well, then, I guess you're on your own. Too bad, really."**

**"Because you're going to kill me?" Claire heard herself say it in a kind of dreamlike state, and remembered what Eve had told her. Don't look in their eyes. Too late. Angela's were a soft turquoise, very pretty. Claire felt a deliciously warm edge-of-sleep sensation wash over her.**

**"Probably," Angela admitted. "But first you should have some tea."**

**"Coffee," John said. "I still like the caffeine."**

**"It spoils the taste!"**

**"Gives it that zip." John smacked his lips.**

**"Why don't you let me look through boxes?" Claire asked, desperately bringing herself back from the edge of whatever that was. The vampires were leading her through a maze of boxes and crates, all marked with red Xs and initials. "You've got to let humans do it, right? If you can't read the book?"**

"What are you trying to tell them you want it for something more than just to help them?" Michael said, and he seemed right but the Vampires were stupid there disease had slowed their brains by a fraction of their death age.

**"What makes you think you could read it, little one?" Angela asked. She had a buttery sort of accent, not quite California, not quite Midwest, not quite anything. Old. It sounded old. "Are you a scholar of languages, as well?"**

**"N-no, but I know what the symbol is that you're looking for. I can recognize it."**

**Angela reached down and drew her fingernails lightly over the skin of Claire's inner arm, looking thoughtful.**

**"No, I don't have the tattoo. But I've seen it." She was absolutely shaking all over, terrified in a distant sort of way, but her brain was racing, looking for escape. "I can recognize it. You can't, can you? You can't even draw it."**

**Angela's fingernails dug in just a bit, in warning. "Don't be smart, little girl. We're not the kind of people you should mock."**

**"I'm not mocking. You can't see it. That's why you haven't found it. It's not just that you can't read it - right?"**

"You really wanted to die then didn't you?" Shane asked Cruz but he was only saying it to show his concern.

"**Angela and John exchanged looks again, silent and meaningful. Claire swallowed hard, tried to think of anything that might be a good argument for keeping her unbitten (Maybe if I don't drink any tea or coffee?) and spared a thought for just how pissed off Shane was going to be if she went and got herself killed. On campus. In the middle of the day.**

**The vampires turned a corner of boxes, and there, in an open space, was a door that didn't lead out onto any stairwell she'd seen, an elevator with a DOWN button, a battered school-issue desk and chair, and...**

**"Professor Wilson?" she blurted. He looked up, blinking behind his glasses. He was her Classics of English Literature professor (Tuesdays and Thursdays at two) and although he was boring, he seemed to know his stuff. He was a faded-looking man, all greys - thin grey hair, faded grey eyes - with a tendency to dress in colours that bleached him out even more. Today it was a white shirt and grey jacket.**

**"Ah. You're" - he snapped his fingers two or three times - "in my Intro to Shakespeare -"**

**"Classics of English Lit."**

"What I have to be right it's a little thing I have to be right." Cruz said and it was true she always had to be right since she could talk.

**"Right, exactly. They change the title occasionally, just to fool the students into taking it again. Neuberger, isn't it?" Fright in his eyes. "You weren't assigned here to help me, were you?"**

**"I -" Light dawned. Maybe letting mistaken impressions lie was a good idea right now. "Yes. I was. By...Miss Samson." Miss Samson was the dragon lady of the English department; everyone knew that."**

"I love all the nick names you have for the teachers" Eve said.

"I know it was there before I got there and maybe even when she was born." Cruz said and they started laughing I had to agree she sounded like it would have been her nickname from when she was a small child.

"**Nobody questioned her. As excuses went, this one was thinner than paper, but it was all she had. "I was looking for you."**

**"And the door was open?" John asked, looking down at her. She kept her eyes firmly fixed on Professor Wilson, who wasn't likely to hypnotize her into not lying.**

**"Yes," she said firmly. "It was open." The only good thing about the canister on her back was that at least it looked like something a college student might carry around, with soup or coffee or something in it.**

**And it didn't exactly look like something to break locks. By now, the liquid nitrogen in the lock would have sublimated into the air, and all evidence was gone.**

**She hoped."**

"Did they check the door?" Michael asked. Cruz nodded her head to him and he seemed pleased.

**"Well then," Wilson said, and frowned at her, "better sit down and get to work, Neuberger. We have a lot to do. You know what you're looking for?"**

**"Yes, sir." John let go of her shoulder. After a reluctant second, Angela released her, too, and Claire went to the desk, dragged up a wooden chair, and carefully placed her backpack and canister on the floor.**

**"Coffee?" John asked hopefully.**

**"No, thank you," she said politely, and pulled the first stacked volume toward her.**

**It was interesting work, which was weird, and the vampires became less and less frightening the more she was in their company."**

We all must have looked either confused or shocked "What they just left me alone it was like they didn't care and that made them less intimating… stop bullying me." Cruz said

"**Angela was a fidgeted, always tapping her foot or restlessly braiding her hair or straightening stacks of books. The vampires seemed assigned only as observers; as Professor Wilson and Claire finished each mountain of books, they took them away, boxed them, and brought new volumes to check.**

**"Where do these come from?" Claire wondered out loud, and sneezed as she opened the cover of something called Land Register of Atascosa County, which was filled with antique, neat handwriting.**

**Names, dates, measurements. Nothing like what they were looking for.**

**"Everywhere," Professor Wilson said, and closed the book he'd flipped through. "Second-hand stores. Antique shops. Book dealers. They have a network around the world, and everything comes here for inspection. If it isn't what they're looking for, it goes out again. They even make a profit on it, I'm told."**

**He cleared his throat and held up the book he'd been looking at. "John? This one is a first-edition Lewis Carroll. I believe you should put it aside."**

**John obligingly took it and set it in a pile that Claire thought was probably "rare and valuable."**

**"How long have you been doing this, Professor?" she asked. He looked tired.**

**"Seven years," he said. "Four hours a day. Someone will come in to relieve us soon."**

**Us, meaning that she'd get to walk out. Well, that was nice. She'd been hoping that she might at least slip a note out with the professor, something along the lines of IF YOU FIND MY BODY, I WAS KILLED BY MISS PINK IN THE LIBRARY, but that sounded too much like something out of that board game her parents liked so much."**

"That does, sound like you should have done that." Eve said and I had to agree that it would do some help and it did sound like something Mother and Father would play.

**"No talking in class," John said, and laughed. When he did, his fangs came down. His were longer than Brandon's, and looked scarier, somehow." **

"It was nowhere as scary as Cruz when she goes all werewolf on me." Chelsea said.

"Hey more like when Eve wakes up in the morning," Cruz stated and the boys laughed and did the classic Zombie moan and we all laughed and Cruz hugged Eve as she pouted. "Don't worry Eve it's just a joke anyway you should see yourself before you have your coffee and no make-up hang on are you wearing your make-up to day?" Cruz asked and we laughed again and Eve started laughing and I started reading again.

"**Claire gulped and focused on the book in front of her. The cover said Native Grains of the New World. A whole book about grain. Wow. She wondered how Professor Wilson had stayed sane all these years."**

"I would hate to have do that for seven years of my life that would of made me go insane" Eve stated and it seemed by what she was wearing that she wasn't far off the mark. I must have said or mumbled this because both Michael and Cruz were looking at me funny and I shrugged me shoulders and continued reading.

"**Corn is a member of the grass family and is native to the American continents... She flipped pages. More about corn. She didn't know you could write so much about one plant.**

**Beside her, Professor Wilson swore softly under his breath, and she looked up, startled. His face had gone pale, except for two red spots high in his cheeks. He quickly faked a smile and held up a finger striped with red. "Paper cut," he said. His voice sounded high and tight and Claire followed his stare to see Angela and John moving closer, watching the professor's finger with eerie concentration. "It's nothing. Nothing at all." He groped in his pocket, came out with a handkerchief, and wrapped it around his bloodied finger. In trying to attend to that, he knocked the book he'd been reviewing to the floor.**

**Claire automatically bent to pick it up, but Wilson's foot hooked around it and scooted it out of her reach. He bent over and in the darkness under the desk...switched books.**

**Claire watched, open-mouthed. What the hell was he doing? Before she could do anything stupid that might give him away, there was a ding from the elevator across the room, then the rumble of opening doors.**

**"Ah," Wilson said with evident relief. "Time to go, then." He reached down; picked up the hidden book, and slipped it into his leather satchel with such skill Claire wasn't absolutely sure she'd seen it. "Come along, Neuberger."**

**"Not her," John said, smiling cheerfully. "She gets to stay after class."**

"No that's not good I don't like the sound of where that was going." Shane said.

"Don't worry I can look after myself," Cruz replied. That was true anyone I knew who would hurt her wouldn't last long in the fight in either of her forms.

**"But - "Claire bit her lip and made desperate eye contact with the professor, who frowned and shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "Sir, can't I go with you? Please?"**

**"Yes, of course," he said. "Come along, I said. Mr Hargrove, if you don't like it, please takes it up with management. I have a class."**

**He might have pulled it off, too, if Angela hadn't been so sharp-eyed, or suspicious; she stopped him halfway to the elevator, opened up his portfolio, and took out the book he'd stashed away. She leafed through it silently, then handed it to John, who did the same.**

**Both of them looked at the professor with calm, cool, oddly pleased eyes."**

"Not good" Eve said. I could tell that she knew that the two vampires were going to attack the professor.

**"Well," Angela said, "I don't know, but I think this may be a violation of the rules, Professor. Taking books from the library without checking them out first. Shame, shame."**

**She deliberately opened the first page and read, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..."**

**And then flipped carefully through, stopping at random spots, to read lines of text. It all sounded right to Claire. She flinched when Angela pushed the book at her. "Read," the vampire said.**

**"Um...where?"**

**"Anywhere."**

**Claire recited a few lines in a faltering voice from page 229."**

"So you read the book even though you didn't want to?" asked Cain and the thing was if it were the really Cruz not the human Claire she'd of thrown it at their faces and walked off with the professor.

"Well I got out of their so stop your complaining and anyway I wouldn't have needed the book to read from.

**"A Tale of Two Cities," John said. "Let me guess, Professor...a first edition?"**

**"Mint condition," Angela said, and plucked it out of Claire's trembling hands. "I think the professor has a nice retirement plan, composed of screwing us out of our rightful profits."**

**"Huh," John said. "He didn't look quite so dumb as that. Got all those degrees and stuff."**

**"That's just paper smarts. You never can tell about what's really in their heads until you open them up."**

"Just a bit creepy" Eve said.

"You're telling me and I had to stand there while they were saying that creepy stuff." Cruz said and she seemed to pity the professor but I didn't understand why he was safe wasn't he?

"**The two of them were talking like he wasn't even there.**

**Professor Wilson's pale skin had a sweaty gleam on it now. "A moment of weakness," he said. "I really do apologize. It won't ever happen again, I swear that to you."**

**"Apology accepted," Angela said, and lunged forward, planted her hand on his chest, and knocked him flat to the floor. "And by the way, I believe you."**

**She grabbed his wrist, raised it to her mouth, and paused to strip off his gold wristwatch band and toss it on the floor. As it rolled, Claire's stricken eyes caught sight of the symbol on the watch face. A triangle.**

**Delta?**

**Her shock broke at the sound of the professor's scream. Grown men shouldn't scream like that. It just wasn't right. Fright made her angry, and she dropped her book bag, took the canister off her shoulder, and yanked off the top.**

**Then she threw liquid nitrogen all over Angela's back. When John turned on her, snarling, she splashed what was left at his face, aiming for his eyes."**

"So you throw Liquid Nitrogen at the vamps to get them off him?" Shane asked quiet and she nodded.

"I scarred the male one John he looked even scarier than before but I'm afraid that Angela's fine." Cruz replied. And Michael high-fived Shane and Cruz and Eve seemed out of it maybe by the comment I made about her sanity.

"**Wilson rolled to his feet as Angela collapsed, shrieking and thrashing; John reached out for him, but she'd managed to hurt him, too - he missed. Wilson grabbed his satchel and she got her book bag; they ran for the elevator. A very surprised professor - someone she didn't recognize - was standing there, open-mouthed; Wilson yelled at him to stand aside, leaped into the cage, and pressed the DOWN button so frantically Claire was afraid it would snap or stick or something.**

**The doors rolled shut, and the elevator began to fall. Claire tried to get her breathing under control, but it was no good; she was about to hyperventilate. Still, she was doing better than the professor. He looked awful; his face was as grey as his hair, and he was breathing in shallow, hard gasps.**

**"Oh dear," he said weakly. "That wasn't good."**

**And then he slowly collapsed down the wall of the elevator until he was in a sitting position, legs splayed loosely.**

**"Professor?" Claire lunged forward and hovered over him.**

**"Heart," he panted, and then made a choking sound. She loosened his tie. That didn't seem to help.**

**"Listen. My house. Bookshelf. Black cover. Go."**

**"Professor, relax, its okay -"**

**"No. Can't let them have it. Bookshelf. Black -"**

**His eyes got very wide, and his back arched, and she heard him make an awful noise, and then...**

**Then he just died."**

"Poor man" I said.

"So that's how you found out about the book from a dead guy." Shane said, and Cruz nodded looking upset that she couldn't save the professor that she didn't really know him.

"**Nothing dramatic about it, no big speeches, no music swelling to tell her how to feel about it. He was just...gone, and even though she pressed her shaking fingers to his neck, she knew she wouldn't feel anything, because there was something different about him. He was like a rubber doll, not a person.**

**The elevator doors opened. Claire gasped, grabbed her books and the empty silver canister, and sprinted down the blank cinder-block hallway to the end, where a fire door opened into bright afternoon sunlight.**

**She stood there for a few long seconds, just shaking and gasping and crying, and then tried to think where to go. Angela and John thought her name was Neuberger, which was good - she supposed not so good for Neuberger, if one existed - but they'd find out who she was eventually. She needed to be home before that happened.**

**Bookshelf. Black cover.**

**Professor Wilson had been in that room for seven years, sorting through books. Probably slipping out those he thought might be worth something on the black market.**

**What if...?**

**No. It couldn't be.**

**Except...what if it was? What if a year ago, or five years ago, Professor Wilson had found that book the vampires were so intent on having, and decided to hang on to it for a rainy day? After all, she'd been basically planning to do the same thing, only for her it was already stormy weather.**

**She needed his address."**

"So you got his address from whom exactly?" Eve asked and Cruz pointed to me and I understood that she wanted me to read on so that the others would know what happened.

"**It wasn't far to the Communication Arts Building, and she ran as much of the way as she could before the pain in her still-bruised ankle and still-raw back made her slow down. Two flights of steps brought her to the offices, and she passed up Professor Wilson's closed and locked office to stop next to the cluttered desk out in the open between the corridors. The nameplate read VIVIAN SAMSON, but everyone just called her Dragon Lady, and the woman sitting behind it had earned the name. She was old, fat, and legendarily bad-tempered. There was no smoking in all university buildings, but the Dragon Lady had an overflowing ashtray on the corner of her desk and a glowing cigarette hanging out of the corner of her red-painted lips.**

**Beehive hair, straight out of old movies. She had a computer, but it wasn't turned on, and as far as Claire could tell from the two-inch-long bright red nails, the Dragon Lady didn't type, either.**

**She ignored Claire and kept on reading the magazine open in front of her."**

"What a rude bitch she just sits there all day doing nothing," Shane said and it made me laugh to think he couldn't talk he wasn't working at the time of this book and she was employed to do nothing.

**"Um - excuse me?" Claire asked. She felt sticky with sweat from the run in the heat, and still kind of sick from what had happened at the library. The Dragon Lady turned a page in her magazine. "I just need -"**

**"I'm on break." The red-clawed hand took the cigarette out of the red-painted mouth for a trip to the ashtray to shed some excess. "Not even supposed to be here today. Damn grad students. Come back in half an hour."**

**"But -"**

**"No buts. I'm on break. Shoo."**

**"But Professor Wilson sent me to get something from his house, but he didn't give me the address. Please -"**

**She slapped the magazine closed. "Oh, for God's sake. I'm going to wring his neck when he gets back here. Here." She grabbed a card from the holder on her desk and pitched it at Claire, glaring. "If you're some nutcase, it's not my problem. You tell His Highness that if he wants to roll around with undergrads, he can damn well remember to tell them his own damn address from now on. Got it?"**

**"Got it," Claire said in a very small voice. Roll around with... She wasn't going to think about that. Not at all.**

**"Thank you."**

**The Dragon Lady puffed a cloud of smoke out of both nostrils and raised eyebrows plucked into more of a suggestion than an actual form. "You're a polite one. Go on; get out of here before I remember I'm supposed to be off today."**

**Claire escaped, clutching the card in her sweaty fingers."**

That was the end of the chapter and it was heaven to think I wouldn't have to read again, and to be fair I didn't want to read again. It was dark outside this time and I got up with the rest of the family including Cruz and we went out the house and into the dark night to search for that bastard Bishop.

We kept walking and we changed into our wolf forms and ran into the night looking everywhere, I heard a human girl screaming for help and followed the noise and it was getting louder and I found Ysander biting a small girl and I jump on her back nad started biting on her shoulder she let out a cry of pain and started trying to rip me off her back. The others came to help but it was over she was dead and the girl needed help. I changed back along with Cruz and we took her to the hospital and the child's parents came and thanked us and we walked off and Amelie was coming from her limo and the rest of the family were coming from the dark. "Thank you all of you for saving the girl and stopping Ysander and also I would like to give you a reward if you wish." She said polity.

"No thank you, we don't need a reward the death of Bishop will be enough." Cruz spoke, mother looked livid and was about to say something and father stopped her.

_**The end**_


	14. The best kiss ever

_**Book: Glass House Chapter thirteen**_

_**Chapter thirteen **_

_**Shane's Pov: **_

It was morning and I felt lonely again for the night but Claire came late back in the night and hugged me, I was still wake and hugged her back and she seemed to realise I was still wake waiting for her.

We came downstairs to Michael and Eve making breakfast because Claire's family were eating at Amelie's because Claire had explained that they'd killed that bitch Ysander and saved a little girl and that Amelie had offered to give them a reward but she had declined but her mother had accepted on everyone else's behalf except for Chelsea. She had come back with Claire and she was coming in from the back garden and we said hello and started eating our breakfast.

After we ate our breakfast we all went into the living room and Eve picked up the book and started reading. **"You know," Shane said twenty minutes later, "I'd feel a whole lot better about the two of us if you didn't think I was the go-to guy for breaking and entering."**

"You liked it didn't you?" Claire asked me.

"Ok so I liked it I don't anymore" I replied.

"See" Claire said and she seemed disappointed in me but that was just me and I'd changed like she had changed.

"**They were standing on the professor's back porch, and Claire was peering through a murky window into an equally murky living room. She felt a flash of guilt about the breaking-and-entering part - but she had called him - just before her heart did a funny little painful flip and she heard him say again in her head the two of us.**

**She didn't dare look at him. Surely he didn't mean that, exactly. That meant, you know, friendship or something. He treated her like a kid. Like his sister. He didn't - he couldn't -**

**But what if he could?" **

"Did you like me then the way you feel now?" Claire asked me and I had to think about that at first I thought off Claire as a kid then when I saw her get hurt by Gina it changed to me wanting to protect her and keep her safe I felt to me at first like she was my little sister… then when her parents came I thought she was really sweet and always standing up for people and it made me see her as something more and I wanted that something more.

"Yeah I did and my love has grown more and more each day." I said and that was the truth even though I might of hurt Claire when I joined the fighting club I still loved Claire and I promised that I'd never hurt her like that again. She hugged me and whisper something really sweet about over all the men she's dated that I was the best and that made me think about how many it had been but that was before I was born so it didn't matter to me/

"**And she couldn't believe she was thinking this now, on the doorstep of a dead man. The memory of Professor Wilson's limp, rubbery body steadied her, and she was able to finally stand back from the window and meet Shane's eyes without fluttering like some scared sparrow. "Well, I couldn't ask Eve," She said reasonably. "She's at work."**

**"Makes sense. Hey, look, what's that?" Shane pointed. She whirled to stare. There was a sound of tinkling glass behind her, and when she turned back he was opening the back door. "There. Now you can say you didn't know I was going to do it. Crime free."**

**Well, not exactly. She was still carrying the metal cylinder over her shoulder. She wondered if the vampires had recovered yet, and if anybody had thought to question the TA at the chem lab. She hoped not. He was nice, and in his own way he was brave, but she had no illusions that he wouldn't sell her out in a hot second. There weren't a whole lot of heroes left in Morganville."**

That hurt first she calls me brave that was sweet but she really thought I'd sell anyone of my friends out hurt. I must of looked hurt because she hugged me. "Shane I know you wouldn't do that to anyone well maybe not everyone because Monica would be the first one and I love you and I trust you with all my heart it just seemed to me that there weren't that many heroes in this town." She explained and I had to emit that she did have a point that there wasn't that many good people in this dammed down.

"**One of the last of them turned in the doorway and said, "In or out, kid, daylight's burning."**

**She followed Shane over the threshold into Professor Wilson's house.**

**It was kind of weird, really - she could see that he'd been here hours ago, living his life, and now the house seemed like it was waiting for him. Maybe not so much weird as sad. They came in through the kitchen, and there was a cereal bowl, a glass, and a coffee cup in the dish strainer. The professor had eaten breakfast, at least. When she touched the towel underneath the strainer, it was still damp.**

**"Hey," Shane said. "So what are we looking for in here?"**

**"Bookshelves," she said.**

**"Yo. Found 'em." He sounded odd. She followed him into the next room - the living room - and felt her stomach sink a little. Why hadn't she thought about this? He was a professor. Of course he'd have a gazillion books...and there were, floor to ceiling, all the way around the room. Crammed in together."**

"I bet that was fun doing that." Eve laughed and it wasn't fun at all I don't read books that much and it looking at all of those books was like looking at a library.

"**Stacked on the floor in places. Stacked on tables. She'd thought the Glass House was a reader's paradise, but this..."**

"Paradise really to me that was like hell." I said and Claire knew if it was something from the horror section I'd be all over it.

**"We have two hours," Shane said. "Then we're gone. I don't want to risk you out on the street after dark."**

**She nodded numbly and went to the first set of shelves. "He said it had a black cover. Maybe that will help."**

**But it didn't. She began pulling out all the black-bound books and piling them on the table; Shane did the same. By the time they'd met in the middle of the shelves, an hour had passed, and the pile was huge.**

**"What the hell are we looking for?" he asked, staring at it. She didn't suppose I don't know would be an answer that would get any respect.**

**"You know the tattoo on Eve's arm?"**

**Shane acted like she'd stuck him in the butt with a fork. "We're looking for the book? Here?"**

"**I –"She gave up. "I don't know. Maybe. It's worth a try."**

**He just shook his head, his expression something between you're crazy and you're amazing. But not in a good way."**

"You are amazing and crazy." I said.

"**She pulled up a chair and began leafing through the books, one after another.**

**Nothing...nothing...nothing...**

**"Claire." Shane sounded odd. He handed her a black leather-bound book. "Take a look."**

**It was too new. They were looking for an old book, right? This was...this was a Holy Bible. With a cross on the front.**

**"Look inside," he said. She opened it. The first few gold-leafed pages were standard, the same familiar words she'd grown up with, and still believed. Eve had said they had a few churches in Morganville, right? Maybe they had services. She'd have to check.**

**Midway through Exodus, the pages went hollow, and there was a tiny little volume hidden inside the Bible. Old. Very old. The cover was water-stained dirty leather, and scratched into it was a symbol.**

**The symbol."**

"So is the symbol on that your family one or is it the founder's one?" Eve asked Claire and her and Chelsea looked at each other.

"Yes it's our family symbol Bishop and Amelie stole it from us, and we were around longer than them also we're allowing Amelie to keep it but…" they both said it gave me the creeps again that they were talking at the same time and also they stopped and Chelsea was looking at Claire funny.

"No I'm not saying that it'd be wrong just because we own the symbol doesn't mean we own the town because the town was built by Amelie." Claire said.

"But Cruz you heard Mother last night." Chelsea said.

"No Mother is wrong because mother is always wrong like that Father getting killed was your fault it was hers." Claire shouted and walked off and I walked after her and Eve kept on reading. I caught Claire going into our room and stopped her.

"Claire are you ok you seem out of it and what was Chelsea on about with your family owning the town?" I asked. She shook her head and looked at me.

"Like I said we don't own the town it's our family symbol it's just a symbol these days it doesn't mean anything and it doesn't matter." She said and I hugged her and told her I loved her and she told me the same and we hugged for about a minute and she pulled away and looked at me. "Do you care what I am?" she asked me and I felt shocked that she'd ask that.

"No I think you're amazing and it doesn't matter to me who or what you are." I replied. We went off down stairs and Eve was still reading and Claire moved over to Chelsea and they hugged.

"**She looked back at Professor Wilson's lonely living room one last time. A clock ticked on the mantel, and everything waited for a life that would never start up again.**

**She was right. It was sad.**

**"Run first," Shane said. "Mourn later."**

**It was the perfect motto for Morganville."**

"I have to say that would be a good motto for this town." Said Chelsea.

"See sister like sister." Claire said and Eve nodded in agreement.

"**They made it back home with half an hour or so to spare, but as they turned the corner on Lot Street, where the Gothic bulk of the Glass House pretty much dwarfed all of the other, newer houses around it, Claire's eyes went immediately to the blue SUV sitting at the curb. It looked familiar...**

**"Oh my God," she said, and stopped dead in her tracks.**

**"Okay, stopping? Not a great idea. Come on, Claire, let's -"**

**"That's my parents' car!" she said. "My parents are here! Oh my God!" She practically squealed that last part,"**

"That hurt my ear you know with that squeal." I said and Claire looked upset but I knew it was about what had happened only four minutes ago.

"**And would have turned around and run away, but Shane grabbed her by the neck of her shirt and hauled her around.**

**"Better get it over with," he said. "If they tracked you this far, they're not going to drive off without saying hello."**

**"Oh, man! Let go!" He did. She twitched her shirt down over her shoulders and glared at him, and he did an extravagant bow."**

"You know you looked a lot like Myrnin doing that it was so cute but don't do it again it'll remind me of when I went to this ball and this man killed me there and then." I was really shocked that someone killed Claire and it hurt me to think that I looked like Myrnin when I bowed and I so was not going to do that again.

**"You first," he said. "I'm watching your back."**

**She was, at least temporarily, more worried about her front.**

**When she cracked open the door to the house, she could hear Eve's anxious voice. "I'm sure she'll be here any time - she's, you know, at class, and -"**

**"Young lady, my daughter is not in class. I've been to her classes. She hasn't been to class the entire afternoon. Now, are you going to tell me where she is, or do I have to call the police?"**

**Dad sounded pissed."**

"My fake dad just to make things clear." Claire said.

"**Claire swallowed hard, resisted the urge to back up and close the door and run away - mainly because Shane was right behind her, and he was finding this way too funny to let her escape - and walked down the hall toward the voices. Just Eve and Dad, so far. Where was -**

**"Claire!" She'd know that shriek of relief anywhere. Before she could say Hi, Mom, she was buried in a hug and a wave of L'Oreal perfume. The perfume stayed longer than the hug, which morphed into Claire's being held at arm's length and shaken like a rag doll. "Claire, what have you been doing? What are you doing here?"**

**"Mom -"**

"My fake mom." Claire said more jokily this time.

**"We were so worried about you after that terrible accident, but Les couldn't get off work until today -"**

**"It wasn't that big a deal, Mom -"**

**"And we just had to come up and see you, but your room is empty in the dorm. You weren't in classes - Claire, what's happened to you? I can't believe you'd do something like this!"**

**"Like what?" she asked, sighing. "Mom, would you quit shaking me? I'm getting dizzy."**

**Mom let go and folded her arms. She wasn't very tall - just a couple of inches over Claire's height, even in mid-heeled shoes - and Dad, who was glowering at Shane in the background, was as tall and twice as broad. "Is it him?" Dad asked. "Did he get you into trouble?"**

**"Not me," Shane said. "I've just got that kind of face."**

"Seriously you had to say that to them?" Claire said.

**"Shut up!" Claire hissed. She could hear that he thought all this was funny. She didn't. "Shane's just a friend, Dad. Like Eve."**

**"Eve?" Her parents looked at each other blankly. "You mean - " As one, they cast horrified glances at Eve, who was standing with her hands folded, trying to look as demure as it was possible to look while wearing an outfit that looked like something a Goth ballerina might wear - all black netting in the skirt and red satin up top. She smiled sweetly, but it was kind of spoiled by the red lipstick (had she borrowed Miranda's?)"**

"Hey that's not very nice now is it? And no I had not used Miranda's and that's just rude to me." Eve said she seemed to be a little angry by that but she seemed ok after a while.

"**And skull earrings.**

**Mom said faintly, "Claire, you used to have such nice friends. What happened to Elizabeth?"**

**"She went to Texas A&M, Mom."**

**"That's no reason not to still be friends."**

**Mom logic. Claire decided that Shane had been right - there was no getting out of this one. She might as well jump into the pool; the sharks were circling no matter what she did. "Mom, Eve and Shane are two of my roommates. Here. In this house."**

**Silence. Mom and Dad looked frozen. "Les?" Mom asked. "Did she say she was living here?"**

**"Young lady, you are not living here," Dad said. "You live in the dorm."**

**"I'm not. I'm living here, and that's my decision."**

**"That's illegal! The rules said that you have to live on campus, Claire. You can't just -"**

**Outside the windows, night was slipping up on them, stealthy and quick as an assassin. "I can," Claire said. "I did. I'm not going back there."**

**"Well, I'm not paying good money just to have you squat in some old wreck with a bunch of - "Dad was at a loss for words to describe how little he thought of Eve and Shane. "Friends! And are they even in school?"**

**"I'm currently between majors," Shane offered.**

**"Shut up!" Claire was nearly in tears now.**

**"All right, that's it. Get your things, Claire. You're coming with us."**

**All the amusement faded out of Shane's face. "No, she isn't," he said. "Not at night. Sorry."**

**Dad got red-faced and even more furious, and levelled a finger at her. "Is this why you're here? Older boys? Living under the same roof?"**

**"Oh, Claire," Mom sighed. "You're too young for this. You -"**

**"Shane," Shane supplied.**

**"Shane, I'm sure you're a perfectly nice boy" - she didn't sound especially convinced - "but you have to understand that Claire is a very special girl, and she's very young."**

**"She's a kid!" Dad interrupted. "She's sixteen! And if you took advantage of her -"**

"I would never take advantage of anyone I know my place and that really hurt that he would think that." I said and Claire nuzzled into my neck kissing it softly sending shivers down my spine.

"I know you wouldn't and he was just looking after his child well more like him protecting me as a knight since his family were a part of the curse." She said.

**"Dad!" Claire thought her face might be just as red as his, for very different reasons. "Enough already!**

**Shane's my friend! Stop embarrassing me!"**

**"Embarrassing you? Claire, how do you think we feel?" Dad roared.**

**In the silence, Claire heard Michael say mildly, from the stairs, "I think maybe we'd all better sit down."**

**They didn't all sit down. Shane and Eve escaped to the kitchen, where Claire heard a clattering of pots and furious whispering; she was sitting uncomfortably on the couch between her parental bookends, looking mournfully at Michael, who was sitting in the armchair. He looked calm and collected, but then, he would. Mom, Dad, this is Michael; he's a dead guy... Yeah, that would really help.**

**"My name is Michael Glass," he said, and extended his hand to Claire's dad like an equal. Dad, surprised, took it and shook. "You've already met our other two roommates, Eve Rosser and Shane Collins. Sir, I know you're concerned about Claire. You should be. She's on her own for the first time, and she's younger than most kids coming to college. I don't blame you for being worried."**

**Dad, defused, settled for looking stubborn. "And who the heck are you, Michael Glass?"**

**"I own this house," he said. "I rent a room to your daughter."**

**"How old are you?"**

**"A little over eighteen. So are Shane and Eve. We've known each other a long time, and to be honest, we didn't really want to let another person into the house, but..." Michael shrugged. "We had an empty bedroom, and splitting costs four ways is better. I thought a long time about letting Claire stay here. We had house meetings about it."**

**Claire blinked at him. He had? They did?**

"Yes we did" Michael said.

"You did you never said anything about this to me Shane." She said looking at me but she seemed ok with the fact that we had a house meeting about her and I remember it really well.

_**Flashback: **_

_**Michael came to my bedroom late at night and Eve was behind him looking angry about being woken up so late/early and we went down stairs and we talked about if Claire should stay we talked for hours till we got to the decision that she was a nice kid and seemed less trouble and that well she would have been dead meat if Monica would find her. "So are we all agreed that Claire can stay here?" Michael asked and me and Eve nodded our heads and went back to bed but Michael he sat there on his chair and started tuning his guitar and I went back and fell asleep. **_

_**End of flashback: **_

"**This wasn't about money, Mr Danvers. It was about Claire's safety."**

**Michael glanced across at her, and she bit her lip. She'd been hoping to avoid this - desperately hoping - but she couldn't see any way out now. She nodded slightly and slumped back on the couch cushions, trying to make herself small. Smaller.**

**"Claire's dorm was girls-only," Claire's mom put in. She reached over to stroke Claire's hair absently, the way she did when Claire was little. Claire endured it. Actually, she secretly liked it,"**

"Yeah I love that it was like when we were little kids and mother use to do that to us when we were upset." Said Chelsea who looked like she was going to cry and Claire got up and hugged her and Chelsea put her head on Claire's lap and Claire started to stroke Chelsea's hair and Eve started reading again.

"**A little, and had to fight not to relax against Mom's side and let herself be hugged. Protected. "She was safe, wasn't she?**

**That Monica girl said -"**

**"You talked to Monica?" Claire said sharply, and looked wide-eyed at her mother. Mom frowned a little, dark eyes concerned.**

**"Yes, of course I did. I was trying to find out where you'd gone, and Monica was very helpful."**

**"I'll bet," Claire muttered. The idea of Monica standing there smiling at her mom - looking innocent and nice, probably - was sickening."**

"It is" Eve said. I had to agree the thought of that is still sickening.

**"She said you were staying here," Mom finished, still frowning. "Claire, honey, why would you leave the dorm? I know you're not a silly girl. You wouldn't do it if you didn't have a reason."**

**Michael said, "She did. She was being hazed."**

**"Hazed?" Mom repeated the word like she had no idea what it meant.**

**"From what Claire told me, it started small - all the freshmen girls get it from the older ones. Nasty stuff, but not dangerous. But she got on the wrong side of the wrong girl, and she was getting hurt."**

**"Hurt?" That was Dad, who now had something to hold on to.**

**"When she came here, she had bruises like a road map," Michael said. "To be honest, I wanted to call the cops. She wouldn't let me. But I couldn't let her go back there. She wasn't just getting knocked around... I think her life was in danger."**

**Mom's hand had frozen in Claire's hair, and she let out a little moan.**

**"It's not that bad," Claire offered. "I mean, look, nothing broken or anything. I had a sore ankle for a while, and a black eye, but -"**

**"A black eye?"**

**"It's gone. See?" She batted her eyelashes. Mom's gaze searched her face with agonizing care. "Honest, it's over. Done. Everything's fine now."**

**"No," Michael said. "It's not. But Claire's handling it, and we're watching out for her. Shane especially.**

**He - he had a little sister, and he's taken an interest in making sure Claire stays safe. But more than that, I think Claire's taking care of herself. And that's what she has to learn, don't you agree?" Michael leaned forward, hands loosely clasped, elbows on his knees. In the glow of the lamps, his hair was rich gold, his eyes angel blue. If anybody ever looked trustworthy, it was Michael Glass.**

**Of course, he was dead and all, which Claire had to bite her tongue not to blurt out in sheer altered-state panic.**

**Mom and Dad were thinking. She knew she had to say something...something important. Something that would make them not drags her home by the ear.**

**"I can't leave," she said. It came from her heart, and she meant every word. Her voice stayed absolutely steady, too - for once. "Mom, Dad, I know that you're afraid for me, and I - I love you. But I need to stay here. Michael isn't telling you this, but they put themselves on the line for me, and I owe it to them to stay until it's settled and I'm sure they won't get in trouble for me. It's what I have to do, you understand? And I can do it. I have to."**

**"Claire," Mom said in a small, choked voice. "You're sixteen! You're a child!"**

**"I'm not," she said simply. "I'm sixteen and a half, and I'm not giving up. I never have. You know that."**

**They did. Claire had fought all her life against the odds, and both her parents knew it. They knew how stubborn she was. More, they knew how important it was to her.**

**"I don't like this," her dad said, but he sounded unhappy now, not angry. "I don't like you living with older boys. Off campus. And I want these people who hurt you stopped."**

**"Then I have to stop them," Claire said. "It's my problem. And there are other girls in that dorm getting hurt, too, so it isn't just about me. I need to do it for them, too."**

**Michael raised his eyebrows slightly, but didn't answer. Mom wiped at her eyes with a handkerchief. Eve appeared in the doorway wearing a huge apron with a red-lips emblem that read KISS THE COOK, peered uncertainly at them, and gave Claire's parents a nervous smile.**

**"Dinner's ready!" she said.**

**"Oh, we couldn't," Mom said.**

**"The heck we can't," Dad said. "I'm starved. Is that chili?"**

**Dinner was uncomfortable. Dad made noncommittal grunts about the quality of the chili. Shane looked like he was barely holding on to his laughter most of the time. Eve was so nervous that Claire thought she would jitter right out of the chair, and Michael...Michael was the calm one. The adult. Claire had never felt more like the kid at the big table in her life. "So, Michael," Claire's mother said, nibbling at a spoonful of chili, "what is it you do?"**

**Haunts the house where he died, Claire thought, and bit her lip. She took a fast sip of her cola.**

**"I'm a musician," he said.**

**"Oh really?" She brightened up. "What do you play? I love classical music!"**

**Now even Michael looked uncomfortable. Shane coughed into his napkin and drained Coke in huge gulps to drown out his hiccupping laughter.**

**"Piano and guitar," he said. "But mostly guitar. Acoustic and electric."**

**"Humph," Claire's dad said. "Any good?"**

**Shane's shoulders were shaking.**

**"I don't know," Michael said. "I work hard at it."**

**"He's very good!" Eve jumped in, eyes bright and flashing. "Honestly, Michael, you should quit being so humble. You're really great. It's just a matter of time before you really do something big, and you know it!"**

**Michael looked...blank. Expressionless. That didn't quite hide the pain, Claire thought. "Someday," he said, and shrugged. "Hey, Shane thanks for dinner. Good stuff."**

**"Yeah," Eve said. "Not bad."**

**"Spicy," Dad said, as if that was a flaw. Claire knew for a fact he ordinarily added Tabasco to half of what he ate. "Mind if I get a refill?"**

**Eve jumped up like a jack-in-the-box. "I'll get it!" But Dad was at the end of the table, closest to the kitchen, and he was already on his feet and heading that direction.**

**Michael and Shane exchanged looks. Claire frowned, trying to figure out what they were looking so alarmed about."**

"I forgot all about it" I said.

"**They sat in silence as the refrigerator opened, bottles rattled, and then it closed. Dad came back, one cold-frosted Coke in his hand.**

**In his other hand he held a beer. He sat it in the centre of the table and glared at Michael.**

**"You want to explain why there's beer in a refrigerator with a sixteen-year-old in the house?" he asked.**

**"Not to mention that none of you is old enough to be drinking it!"**

**Well, that was that. Some days, Claire thought, you just couldn't win.**

**She had two days, and only because Dad agreed to allow her to go to the admissions office and file transfer paperwork. Michael tried his best, but even angelic good looks and complete sincerity weren't good enough this time. Shane had stopped finding it amusing at some point, and started yelling. Eve had gone to her room.**

**Claire had cried. A lot. Furiously.**

**She was so angry, in fact, that she barely cared that Mom and Dad were going to be driving out of Morganville in the dark, unprotected and unarmed. Michael took care of that, though, with a story about carjackers stealing SUVs in the area. That was the best anyone could do, and more than Claire wanted, anyway.**

**Dad had looked at her like she was a disappointment.**

**She'd never, ever been a disappointment before, and it totally pissed her off, because she didn't deserve it, not one bit.**

**Michael and Shane stood in the doorway, watching her parents hurry to their SUV in the dark. Shane, she saw, had a big hand-carved cross, and he was ready to charge to the rescue, even though he was mad as hell. He didn't need to, though. Mom and Dad got in their truck and drove away, into the hushed Morganville night, and Michael closed and locked the door and turned to look at Claire.**

**"Sorry," he said. "That could have been better."**

**"You think?" she shot back. Her eyes were swollen and hot, and she felt like she might vibrate apart; she was so mad. "I'm not leaving! No way!"**

**"Claire." Michael reached out and put his hands on her shoulders. "Until you're eighteen, you really don't have the right to say that, okay? I know, you're almost seventeen, you're smarter than ninety percent of the people in the world -"**

**"One hundred percent smarter than anybody else in this house," Shane said.**

"**- but that doesn't matter. It will, but it doesn't right now. You need to do what they say. If you decide to fight them, it's going to get ugly, and Claire, we can't afford it. I can't afford it. You understand?" He searched her eyes, and she had to nod. "Sorry. Believe me, it isn't the way I wanted it to happen, but at least you'll be out of Morganville. You'll be safe."**

**He hugged her. She felt her breath leave for a second, and then he was gone, walking away.**

**She looked at Shane.**

**"Well, I'm not hugging you," he said. He was standing close to her, so close she had to crane her neck way up to meet his eyes. And for a long few seconds, they didn't say anything; he just...watched her. In the living room, she heard Eve talking to Michael, but here in the hallway it was very quiet. She could hear the fast pounding of her heart, and wondered if he could hear it, too.**

**"Claire - ," he finally said.**

**"I know," she said. "I'm sixteen. Heard it already."**

**He put his arms around her. Not the way Michael had, exactly - she didn't know why it was different, but it was. This wasn't a hug; it was - it felt - close.**

**He wasn't holding himself back that was it. And she relaxed against him with a breathless sigh, cheek against his chest, almost purring with relief. He rested his chin on the top of her head. She felt so small next to him, but that was all right. It didn't make her feel weak.**

**"I'm going to miss you," he whispered, and she leaned back to look up at him again.**

**"Really?"**

**"Yeah." She thought - really thought - that he was going to kiss her, but just then, she heard Eve call,**

**"Shane!" and he flinched and pulled back, and the old Shane, the cocky Shane, was back. "You made things exciting around here." He loped off down the hall, and she felt a pure burst of fury.**

**Boys. Why were they always such dumbasses?"**

"Hey that's not very nice to think and it was Eve's fault because she called me and yes I was going to kiss you." I said and both Eve and Michael were looking at me. "What I liked her a lot and I can kiss who ever I want."

"**The night did its usual tricks - creepy creaking sounds upstairs, wind hissing at the windows, branches tapping. Claire couldn't sleep. She couldn't get used to the idea that this room, this lovely room, was hers for only two more nights, and then she'd be carted off, humiliated and defeated, back home. No way would her parents let her go anywhere now. She'd have to wait out the next year and a half, which meant that her admission paperwork would have to be redone, and she'd have to start all over...**

**At least it didn't matter now if she blew off classes, she thought, and punched her pillow into a more comfortable shape. Several times.**

**If she'd been asleep - even a little asleep - she'd have missed the knock on the door, as light as it was, but she was wired and full of restless energy, and she slipped out of bed and went to unlock it and swing it open.**

_**Flashback: **_

_**I knocked on the door lightly hoping that Eve or Michael didn't hear. I was wearing a loose t-shirt and sweatpants I hardly wore this to bed but I didn't want her thinking about that and I needed to talk to her. She swung open the door and she was standing there in an oversized t-shirt maybe Michael's and she had bare legs she went red in the face and she looked really cute. "Hi," she said quietly and I hardly heard her it knocked me out of my daydream. **_

"_**Hi," I replied. I felt bad and had noticed that her bed was unmade and the covers are all twisted. **_

"_**No. I couldn't sleep." She looked behind her noticing what I had with the covers all twisted. "Um, do you want to, um…come in?" she asked me and I got a bad feeling at first. **_

"_**Better not," I said softly. "Claire, I-"I shook my head trying to get my thoughts all straight. "I shouldn't even be here." I said out loud but I hadn't meant to. But I couldn't leave I had things to say important things to say. **_

"_**Well," she said, "I'm sitting down. If you want to stand there, fine." She went to the bed and sat down, she was being careful how she did it so I wouldn't see her underwear and she put her legs together. Her toes hardly touched the floor when she sat on the bed she was looking at her hands and picking at them she seemed nervous of something. I took two steps into the room. I needed to say something's and I started with something I knew she wasn't going to like. "For the next two days, I don't want you leaving the house," I said. She looked at me like I'd said something horror worthy. But I still had more to say on the matter. "Your dad already thinks we're getting you drunk and staging orgies in the hallway. Last thing I want is to send you home with fang marks in your neck. Or in a coffin." My voice went lower because it would pain me to see anything happen to her. To my Claire. "I couldn't stand that. I really couldn't. You know that, right?" I asked hoping she knew how I felt about her. She wasn't looking up at me so I moved closer to her and I was standing so my feet were in her view point. "Claire. You've got to promise me."**_

"_**I can't," she said. "I'm not some little kid. And I'm not your sister." She was the same age as Alyssa but she was nothing like her and I knew that she wasn't and that's why I liked her because she was tough and fought for others. I had to laugh at this it was too funny to think of her as my sister. **_

"_**Oh yeah. That, I know. But I don't want to see you get hurt again." I was telling the truth because I really didn't I wanted her to leave this place safely. I cupped my hand against her chin and I felt warm just by touching her, and I titled her face to look at me. **_

_**I kissed her, her lips were soft and gentle and everything felt perfect being here with her kissing her. This really felt right being able to kiss her and I loved how it felt and I wanted more moments like this but I knew there weren't going to be any more moments like this. At first she didn't seem to know what she was doing but she soon warmed into it and it felt amazing. I pulled away and my heart felt lonely like it was preparing itself for when it would really happen. She looked happy and I was too but I knew Michael would kill me and I didn't want her to get into any trouble over me again. I pressed my forehead to hers and sighed and I felt her lips on mine again and I got the same feeling again of warmth and belonging. I pulled her to her feel and our hands were clasped, our fingers laced and I felt every part of me wanting her. This time, when we came up for air I pulled back completely I seemed flushed and Claire's lips seemed swollen. Man she was amazing. But I couldn't do this to her, to myself. **_

"_**Okay," I said. "That – that shouldn't have happened." **_

"_**Probably not," she admitted. "But I'm leaving in two days. It'd be stupid if I never even kissed you."**_

_**I wasn't sure who kissed who first this time, but everything I had and everything she had was in that kiss and it was amazing I felt like we were floating in the sky as we were kissing. My hands were free and I explored her body and it was amazing I moved down her shoulders and she gasped into my open mouth and I moaned. I stopped my hands and they were at her waist her thin waist. **_

_**Then our tongues touched and it was great I could tell that she was going weak at the knees, I put my right arm around her waist to holder close to me and I cupped her head. This was serious kissing and she'd never been kissed before and she was this good but this was to have a good memory of her and what we had, had and everything we could. I soon let go and she fell back onto the bed she seemed weak and I took two giant steps back and turned around and walked into the hall and I felt I should say something and it really was the best kiss that I had ever had with any girl. I turned to face her and I said. "Okay," then turned back so I wouldn't be tempted to go back. "Okay, that really shouldn't have happened. And we're not going to talk about that, right? Ever?" I wanted her to know that I really cared about her but I couldn't tell her could I? **_

_**"Right," she replied. "Never happened." That hurt that she hadn't argued with me that it had happened and that she was never going to forget about it but what would happen after she said that? **_

_**I opened my mouth, then closed it, and closed my eyes. "Claire -" I wanted to tell that I cared about her a lot and that I wanted her to stay here with me and of course Eve and Michael. **_

_**"I know."**_

_**"Lock the door," I said. She got up from the bed and swung it mostly closed. I had one last look at her through the gap, and then the door clicked it shut and the dead bolt slammed home. I pressed my back against the door and slid to the floor and I could tell that she was on the others side. I looked up to see Michael standing there. "I am so dead," I muttered. I got up and went to my bedroom before Mike could have a go at me for going into Claire's room. **_

_**End of Flashback: **_

Eve had finished the book and they all looked at Claire and me and she seemed to be going red in the face and Eve started giggling.

_**The end**_


	15. The Ball

_**Sorry I haven't updated lately been busy with Exams here's Chapter fourteen hope you like it. **_

_**Chapter fourteen **_

_**Cayden's Pov: **_

It was boring at Amelie's place we just sat there eating away I knew I wasn't the only one who felt bad about Chelsea and Cruz but Cruz chose not to but Chelsea didn't get a choice mother was being heartless. Again she was like this when Father and Chelsea were killed and she blamed Chelsea and us for what happened, we lost our alpha and our father it became mothers obsession to find the book and kill Bishop.

We came back from Amelie's at nightfall and went to collect Chelsea and Cruz. It was good seeing Cruz again and we ran back to the Glass House to see them all reading the book and Chelsea and Cruz got up from where they were and Cruz said her goodbyes and we went off to hunt down Bishop and his minions.

We made it to where we had last seen him at this old, abandoned warehouse and it looked like he'd gone but something had happened and I smelt fresh blood and went to investigate. I found a girl's body and Cruz ran over and started to comfort her. "Monica are you ok, what happened?" she asked the girl. The girl didn't seem to be able to talk and Cruz picked her up and told us she was leaving to take the girl to the hospital. We continued our search all night and it was very hard and then something weird happened. François came out with his hands up then Cruz came in holding her arm. "Run, quick run!" she shouted and it seemed like something else was happening and Bishop came out and see smiled and it wasn't good. Everything happened so fast and it seemed all so strange that my own little sister attacked us all and left Chester to run and tell the founder and her friends. We were still in the warehouse and it smelt of blood and it would have driven any Vampire made even a young werewolf and this was what Bishop wanted for Cruz to go crazy with the hunger.

"Do you like the spell Mr Archer or would you like another repeat of it I'm sure Claire or is it Cruz would like some more." Bishop taunted and I saw Cruz crying and Bishop clicked his fingers. Next thing I knew Cruz was crying in pain screaming at the top of her lungs in pain and it seemed to unhinge Bishop as well and Cruz was clenching into her arm and it was bleeding. She was trying to stop the order that he had made her do before hurting family was a sin in the werewolf world and Cruz knew this and she couldn't disrespect any order. It killed me knowing that I couldn't help her nor Father, nor Mother or any of us and it would kill Shane, Michael, Eve and even Amelie and Myrnin and it was all Bishops fault. I remembered something from when Chelsea was younger when Bishop had come for the book he used the same spell that he used on Cruz but she had to die. But killing her and bringing her back could be hard.

"Brother you know what to do." Cruz shouted she must have heard my thoughts and she wanted to do that. "I mean it even if I die just do it." Then Bishop looked at all of us seeing who would go for it and Father stepped forward and used a freeze spell. Bishop was frozen but not for long I ran over to Cruz and she was bleeding. "Please just stop this please stop it and hurry." She was crying and then Father came over and started to kill her and she screamed in pain and it was killing me hearing her. And then it stopped and she was dead and it was all Bishop's fault and it was time to bring her back. He started and just on cue Bishop unfroze and tried attacking us. The rest of us were busy fending him off as Father brought back Cruz. I hoped this worked that Cruz came back and that Bishop paid for what he had done to our family. The fight lasted hours between us and Bishop and soon I had him down and Cain and Catlin were holding his head and started pulling and it took time as he screamed and I saw in the corner of my eye that Cruz still wasn't waking and it was scaring me to see my little sister I reminded me of finding Chelsea half dead and Mother screaming and then Father dead it was something you'd never forget for the rest of our lives. We finally killed Bishop and staked him and set him on fire to make sure that he stayed dead this time and Cruz still wasn't awake but Father said she would wake up soon.

We left the abandoned warehouse and I carried Cruz back to the Glass House and we made it in time for the sun to rise and Cade knocked on the door and the girl Eve opened the door she saw Crux lying limp in my arms and seemed scared to ask. "Don't worry Child she's resting she stopped the curse that Bishop put on her some time ago but it's gone now." Father said and it was true but Cruz was still lifeless in my arms and I just wanted her to be safe I had promised when we found her that she would be safe. I lay her down gentle on the sofa as Michael and Shane came into the room and Shane seemed scared and about to cry.

"Don't worry Shane she's resting its fine." I told him he seemed sceptical about that but she rushed over to her and saw her lips were blue but I could hear her distant heartbeat starting to beat back. She was coming to life while Shane held her. That I guess was true love how romantic and it was what Cruz had wanted all her lives to find true love. It was hours later and she soon woke and it was good to hear that she would be fine. We celebrated with some beer yes beer and they all think that being a werewolf can't get you drunk. We had a toast and Chelsea started arguing with Mother and it was funny seeing Mother start crying and apologising to Chelsea and it seemed that Chelsea had grown a backbone in the afterlife or just living with Crux gives you one.

It was the morning and again Amelie called for us and again Mother accepted and it meant all of us including the humans and vampire and Chelsea I guess Mother wasn't drunk. We had a lovely breakfast while talking and enjoying the food it was great like the old days. Then Amelie raised her glass in the air and stood. "Today I would like to say I am very pleased that you have stopped Bishop and we must celebrate this I propose that we celebrate this with a Ball." She wasn't asking but telling us what was going to happen and I had say it would be fun.

The ball was going to be amazing and I could meet cute girls all night long. This was going to be like when we were royal before Bishop took everything from us and took away the king so he could rule along with his daughter who had no Idea what was happening. But that was all in the past now and it was time to shop for a suit to make us Archer boys look handsome and Shane and Michael but they had girls we didn't.

Shopping took forever and it was really long waiting for the girls to meet us at the point we had agreed on. We went back to the Glass House to get changed and it seemed to take forever to get into the monkey suit as Shane liked to call it but the theme of the Ball was olden days and us Archer's knew what it was liked when Amelie was younger. We went through the portal and waited for Amelie to introduce us to the others as we use to do with all our guests. "Ladies and Gentlemen welcome to the welcome ball for the Archers and here we have Mr and Mrs Archer." Mother and Father walked out onto the stage and bowed to Amelie. **[Outfits shown on profile] **she kept on calling us one by one after that and when it was my turn I walked down the steps and bowed to Amelie and stood by my family and then the others came down and when Cruz came down I heard people starting to whisper little things about how she couldn't be an old royal or something pathetic and I just wanted to tell them that this was my sister and they should all be proud they knew her.

The ball was still going on and everyone was having fun and dancing and the music stopped to see Amelie on the stage at the microphone. "Hello ladies and gentlemen I have announcement about what music will be next and it's live from Cruz Archer." She leaves and Cruz goes on the stage looking a little scared and Shane claps his hands and the rest of us follow his lead and she starts to sing the best song ever.

_I don't know, but I think I may be fallin' for you droppin' so quickly, maybe I should keep this to myself Wait until I know you better_

_I am tryin' not to tell you, but I want to I'm scared of what you'll say so I'm hidin' what I'm feelin' but I'm tired of holdin' this inside my head_

_I've been spendin' all my time just thinkin' 'bout you I don't know what to do, I think I'm fallin' for you I've been waitin' all my life, and now I found you I don't know what to do, I think I'm fallin' for you I'm fallin' for you_

_As I'm standin' here, and you hold my hand Pull me towards you, and we start to dance all around us, I see nobody here in silence, it's just you and me_

_I am tryin' not to tell you, but I want to I'm scared of what you'll say so I'm hidin' what I'm feelin 'But I'm tired of holdin' this inside my head_

_I've been spendin' all my time just thinkin' 'bout you I don't know what to do, I think I'm fallin' for you I've been waitin' all my life, and now I found you I don't know what to do, I think I'm fallin' for you I'm fallin' for you_

_Oh, I just can't take it; my heart is racin' Emotions keep spinnin' out_

_I've been spendin' all my time just thinkin' 'bout you I don't know what to do, I think I'm fallin' for you I've been waitin' all my life, and now I found you I don't know what to do, I think I'm fallin' for you I'm fallin' for you, I think I'm fallin' for you_

_I can't stop thinkin' 'bout it, I want you all around me And now I just can't hide it, I think I'm fallin' for you I can't stop thinkin' 'bout it, I want you all around me And now I just can't hide it, I think I'm fallin' for you I'm fallin' for you, oh, oh, oh, no, no, oh, oh, oh, oooh, I'm fallin' for you_

The song was amazing and everything else here was too.

_**The end**_


	16. House fire

_**Book: Glass House Chapter fourteen**_

_**Chapter fifteen **_

_**Claire's Pov: **_

The ball last night was amazing it was great seeing the family like the old days when I was a princess and before Bishop ruined everything but he was gone now and it was the end to everything because I was leaving I wasn't going to tell the others about me leaving I wanted Shane to come but he was only human and I'd have to see him grow old and die leaving me to live on. But I had to leave before that happened here in Morganville.

We were sitting around the living room as I started reading the book of my old life I wanted to create better last memories for the others before I disappeared forever. **"Claire didn't even see Michael move; he was that quick. Until that moment she'd thought he was just a normal guy, really...okay, one who disappeared into mist during the day. But nobody moved that fast.**

**Nobody human. Michael went after Oliver. As the vampire was rolling to his feet, Michael smashed into him. Oliver was strong, and fast, but in this house Michael was unstoppable, and he was really, really angry."**

"Don't worry Michael you looked angry but for a reason and it was a good idea to try stopping him." I said and that seemed to make Michael seemed better.

"Thanks Claire I don't like getting angry." He replied.

"No one likes getting angry man." Shane said. I smiled at him and he smiled back.

**"You fool!" Oliver screamed at him. "Do you understand what I said? Claire has the book!"**

**"I don't care!"**

**"You have to care! If you don't give it over, they'll rip all of you apart to get it! I'm trying to save you!"**

**Michael slammed his fist into his face two or three times, quicker than Claire could blink. Oliver went down again, scrabbling at the floor, then rolled over and stared furiously through tangled greying hair up at them. Vampires bled, after all, but it didn't quite look right - not red enough, and too thick. It trickled from the corners of Oliver's mouth as he snarled fangs down, and tried to drag Michael close enough to bite. Michael hit him so hard that one of the fangs broke off and skittered away across the floor like an ivory dagger. Oliver shouted in surprise and pain and rolled, trying to protect himself.**

**"Eve!" Michael yelled, and dragged him by one foot down the hallway toward the door. "Revoke the invitation! Do it!" Oliver was fighting him wildly now, ripping long raw scratches in the wooden floor with his fingernails, snarling and twisting to get free. "Eve!"**

**Shane lunged for Eve, pulled her to her feet, and shook her hard. That didn't work. She just stared right past him, her face still and dead.**

**Claire moved him out of the way and slapped Eve hard.**

**Eve yelped, clapped a hand to her wounded cheek, and blinked."**

"That really hurt you know Claire." Eve wailed and I looked at her and saw that it must have really hurt her.

"Sorry I just thought if I slapped you, you might snap out of Oliver's control." I said and she seemed ok with that understanding.

**"Hey! What the hell...?" And then she looked past Claire to the furious battle going on in the hallway, lips parted in amazement.**

**"Eve!" Michael yelled again. "The invitation! You have to withdraw it now!"**

**"But I didn't - "Eve didn't waste time arguing. "Hey! Oliver! Get the hell out of our house!"**

**Oliver went still. Completely still, like a dead man. Michael picked him up by an arm and a leg, and threw him out into the dark. Claire heard the vampire hit the pavement outside and curse as he rolled back to his feet and came back at the door.**

**He bounced off a solid cushion of air in the doorway."**

"That was funny seeing that." Shane said and I had to agree it was funny seeing Oliver being over powered by a mere child and the way he thought getting into the house again would be easy. I laughed and so did the others.

**"You're not welcome," Michael grated. He had a cut on his face, bleeding a thick thread down the side of his neck, and he was breathing hard. "And by the way? Eve quits."**

**He slammed the door in Oliver's snarling face, and collapsed against it, shaking. He didn't look all-powerful anymore. He looked terrified. "Michael?" Eve asked, breathless. "You okay?"**

**"Peachy," he said, and got it together. "Eve, stay away from the door. He got to you once; maybe he can do it again. Claire! You, too. Stay away from the door." He grabbed her by the arm and pulled her down the hall - which was a mess, wow, the floor all ripped up, the walls scraped and scratched - and shoved her down to a sitting position on the couch. "Claire."**

**"Um...yes?" Things were moving too fast. She didn't know what he was waiting to hear.**

**"The book?"**

**"Oh. Yeah. Well - see, there was this floor in the library where they were going through books, and Professor Wilson was stealing things, and -"**

**He held up a hand to stop her. "Do you have the book?"**

**"Yes."**

**"Please tell me you didn't bring it here."**

**She blinked. "Well - yes."**

**Michael fell into the armchair, leaned forward, and buried his face in his hands. "Sweet baby Jesus, do you not pay any attention to what goes on in this town? You really have the book?"**

"Michael does the word yes mean anything to you or are you just acting stupid of course I had the book I could feel it in my bones but Claire didn't know that." I said because Michael then had been looking for an idea back then to what would happen next and Claire wasn't sure what she had then but I did.

**"I...guess so." She got up and started to retrieve it, but he raised his head and grabbed her wrist as she moved by him.**

**"No," he said. "Leave it, wherever it is. The less we know the better. We need to figure out what we're going to do, because Oliver wasn't kidding around. He wouldn't have come here if he hadn't intended to kill us all for that book. As it was, he took a big chance. He knows how powerful the Protection is on this house."**

**"That how come you could beat him?" Shane asked. "Because you know, I'm your best friend, but you're just not that badass, man."**

**"Thanks, asshole. Yeah. I'm part of the house, and that means I can use what the house has. It's strong. Really strong."**

"Don't I know it." Both me and Michael said at the same time and I hated the fact that me and Michael had both died in this house and well I was use to dying but Michael only had a year of repeating the pain I did it for a long time but we both didn't have to anymore but there was a different pain coming that was loss.

**"Good to know. So what's the plan?"**

**Michael took in a deep breath, then let it out. "Wait for daylight," he said. "Eve. You ever see Oliver outside in the sun?"**

**"Um..." She thought hard. "No. Mostly he stays in his office, or in the bar area, away from the windows. But I didn't think vampires could be awake during the day!"**

**Claire thought about the church Monica had chased her into, and the elegant, ancient woman sitting in the pews. "I think they can," she said. "If they're old. He must be really old."**

**"I don't care how old he is - he's not tanning," Shane said. "We wait for dawn, and then we get Claire and the book out of here."**

**"She can't go home. They'll go there first," Eve said. Claire went cold.**

**"But - my parents! What about my parents?"**

**Nobody answered her for a second or two, and then Shane came and sat down next to her. "You think they'll listen? If we tell them the truth?"**

**"What, about Morganville? About vampires?" She laughed, and it sounded hysterical. "Are you kidding? They'd never believe it!"**

**"Besides," Eve said, and sat down on her other side to take her hand, "even if you convinced them, they'd forget all about it once they were out of town. It's hard to be paranoid when you don't remember they're out to get you."**

**"Ouch," Shane agreed. "Okay, then. Running's out - for one thing, we can't throw Claire's parents to the vampire wolves...right?"**

**Michael and Eve nodded.**

**"And besides, same problem for Claire. Even if we got her out of town, she'd forget why she was running. They'd catch her."**

**More nods.**

**"So what do we do?"**

"That was the big million dollar question Shane and Claire you gave the silliest idea." Michael said and I had to agree Claire's idea was silly but it wasn't the worst one.

**"Trade the book," Claire said. They all looked at her. "What? I was going to, anyway. In exchange for some things."**

**"Like what?" Michael asked, amazed.**

**"Like - Brandon not holding Shane to his deal. And Monica and her freaks backing off of me. And...Protection for all the dorms on campus, so that the students are safe." She blushed, because they were all staring at her like they'd never seen her before. "That's how Oliver knew I had the book. I messed up. I was trying to make a deal, but I thought he was just, you know, a good guy who could help. I didn't know he was one of the vampires."**

**"Oh, he's not one of them," Michael said. "He is them."**

**Shane frowned. "How do you know that, man?"**

**"Because in a way I'm one of them," Michael replied. "And something in me wants to do what he says."**

**"But - not a big part, right?" Eve ventured.**

**"No. But he's definitely in charge."**

**Shane got up and walked to the windows, twitched back the curtain, and looked out. "No kidding," he said.**

**"What've you got?"**

**"Vamp city, man. Check it out."**

**Michael joined him at the window, then Eve. When Claire squeezed in, she gasped, because there were dozens of people in view, all standing or sitting facing the house. Unnaturally still. Eve dashed to another set of windows. "Same here!" she called. "Hang on!"**

**"Shane," Michael said, and jerked his head after her. Shane loped off in pursuit. "Well, so much for sneaking out. I think we're here for the night, at least. Most of them have to go underground during the day. Those that don't won't be able to stay out in direct sunlight - I hope - so maybe we'll have more options then."**

**"Michael -" Claire felt like crying. "I didn't know. I thought I was doing something good. I really did."**

**He put his arm around her. "I know. It's not your fault. It might have been a dumb idea, but at least it was a sweet one." He kissed her cheek. "Better get some rest. And if you hear voices, try not to listen.**

**They're going to be testing us."**

**She nodded. "What are we going to do?"**

"I don't know," he said quietly. "But we'll think of something."

"Think of something that always works thinking of something that won't work." Shane said like acid but it was true the thinking time that we had gave us the edge we needed and it gave Shane time.

"**Claire curled up on the corner of the couch, piled under an afghan; Eve took the other end. Nobody felt much like going upstairs to bed. Shane paced a lot, talking in low whispers with Michael, who hadn't once gotten out his guitar. The two of them looked wired. Ready for anything.**

**Claire didn't mean to fall asleep - she thought she was too scared - but she did, eventually, as night spun on toward morning. Voices whispered to her - Michael's, she thought, and then Shane's. Get up, the voices said. Get up and open the door. Open the window. Let us in. We can help you if you'll just let us in.**

**She whimpered in her sleep, sweaty and sick, and felt Shane's hand on her forehead. "Claire." She opened her eyes and saw him sitting there next to her. He looked tired. "You're having a nightmare."**

"Don't I wish, come on think about it there are two things wrong with what you said Shane considering that we were surrounded by Vampires and that I was hearing them trying to get to us which one is the nightmare?" he considered that.

"You have a point but really you think that opening the door and letting them in is even better?" I just slapped him on the arm and looked at him.

"Stop messing around it didn't happen so stop being an idiot." I said.

**"Don't I wish," she muttered, tried to swallow, and discovered she was burning-up thirsty. She felt feverish and weak, too. Well, this was a perfect time to be catching the flu...**

**"Michael!" Oliver's voice came faint through the front door. "Something you should see, my boy! Look out your windows!"**

**"Trap," Shane said instantly, and reached out to grab Michael's arm as he walked by. "Don't, man."**

**"What's he going to do? Make faces at me?"**

**"If you start doing what he wants, it's hard to stop. Just don't."**

**Michael considered that for a few seconds, then pulled away and went on to the windows.**

**Where he stared out, frowning. There were red and blue flashing lights shining on the glass and reflecting on his skin.**

**"What is it?" Claire asked, and got up.**

**"Hey! Seriously, guys. Quit playing their game -"**

**"Cops," Michael said. He sounded blank and shocked. "They've got the whole street blocked off. They're moving people out."**

**"What people? The vampires?" Eve wanted to know. She piled on at the window, too.**

**"Sheesh," Shane said grumpily. "Fine. Don't listen to me. If a vampire tells you to jump off a cliff..."**

**"They're evacuating the neighbourhood," Michael said. "Getting rid of witnesses."**

**"Oh, shit," Shane said, and jumped up and craned to look over Claire's shoulder. "So just how screwed are we?"**

"Don't play their game Shane." We all said laughing and Shane looked shocked then started laughing with us.

**"Well, the cops aren't vampires. And the Protections won't keep them out."**

**As Claire watched, the six police cars, all with their lights running in blood red and vein blue flashes, were joined by two long, skeletal fire trucks. One at each end of the block.**

**Michael said nothing, but his eyes narrowed.**

**"Oh, shit!" Shane whispered. "They wouldn't."**

**"Yeah," Michael said. "I think they would. If this book is that important, I think they'd do just about anything to get it."**

**Oliver's face suddenly popped up in front of the window. They all screamed - even Michael - and jumped back."**

I laughed and they laughed with me because the thought of Michael and Shane screaming was just funny.

"**Shane tried to push Claire behind him. She smacked at him until he left her alone."**

"You know I can look after myself Shane what is with you trying to protect me anyway?" I asked and he just kissed me softly on the lips that gave me a really light feeling.

"**She wanted to hear what Oliver had to say.**

**"It's nearly five o'clock," Oliver said, his voice muffled by the window glass. "We're running out of time, Michael. Either invite me in and give me the book, or I'm afraid this is going to get unpleasant."**

**"Wait!" Claire balled her hands into fists. "I want to trade for it!"**

**His eyes weighed her, and dismissed her. "I'm very sorry, my dear, but that opportunity has come and gone. We're in much rougher waters now. Either hand over the book, or we'll come in and get it. I promise you, this is the best deal you're likely to get this side of hell."**

**Michael yanked down the shade. "Shane. You, Eve, and Claire get into the pantry room. Move it."**

**"No way!" Eve declared. "I'm not leaving you!"**

**He took her hand and locked eyes with her, in a way that made Claire's knees go weak even at several feet away. "They can't hurt me, except by hurting the house itself. They can't kill me, except by destroying the house. Understand? You guys are the vulnerable ones. And I want you safe."**

**He kissed her hand, darted a self-conscious look at Claire and Shane, and then kissed her lips, too."**

"So guys what to tell us when that happened?" Shane asked and I had to know when that had happened and I nodded eagerly and Michael and Eve looked at the floor.

"The floor isn't going to give you an answer you know Michael." I said and Eve looked at us.

"Ok it was the night before then and I went to say something's to Michael about how I felt and I told him and he kissed me and told me how he felt. Happy now?" we nodded and I continued reading.

**"Huh," Shane said. "Thought so." He took Claire's hand. "Michael's right. Better get you girls someplace safe."**

**"You, too, Shane," said Michael.**

**"No way!"**

**"Not the time to be proving anything, dude. Just take care of them. I can take care of myself."**

**Maybe, Claire thought. And maybe he just wanted them out of the way in case he couldn't.**

**Either way, she didn't have a chance to protest. Shane steered her and Eve into the kitchen, loaded them down with water and repackaged food like Pop-Tarts and energy bars, and helped them stack things in the dark, gloomy hiding place where Claire had spent her first morning in the Glass House.**

**She didn't know if Shane really might have followed Michael's orders - it was possible, she guessed - but just as they were pushing the last of the supplies into the narrow little doorway, there was a loud crashing of glass from the living room.**

**"What the hell?" Shane blurted, and ducked out to see what was going on. Claire went after him, and when she looked back, Eve was following, too.**

**But they didn't get very far, because the kitchen window smashed into splinters, and Claire and Eve stopped and turned to look.**

**Oliver was standing just outside the window. They heard more glass breaking, all over the house.**

**"Girls," he said. "I'm sorry to do this. Truly I am. But you're not giving me much choice. Last chance. Invite me in, and this can end peacefully."**

"Yeah right fat chance in both those things." Me and Eve said and it was true it was really unlikely to happen.

**"Bite me!" Eve taunted. "Oh, wait...you can't, can you? Not from way out there!"**

**His eyes flared, and his fangs snapped down. Threat display. That was what it was called when a rattlesnake shook its tail, or a cobra spread its hood. He was giving them a clear sign that he didn't find them very funny.**

**"The book," he said. "Or your lives. That's the only deal you're going to get, Claire. I suggest you make the right choice quickly."**

**"It's okay," Eve said. "They can't come inside."**

**Oliver nodded, his faded, curling hair blowing in the hot night wind. "That's true," he said. "But then, I'm hardly all alone."**

**And he stepped aside as a policeman, in uniform, broke out the remaining glass with a nightstick and hopped up on the windowsill to climb through.**

**Eve and Claire screamed and ran."**

"I can't believe I ran and screamed because of a stupid police officer." I said.

"I can because it says so in here." Shane said pointing to the book and I throw the book at him and he ducked out the way.

"That's not funny." I said as I went to get the book from behind Shane's back.

"**The living room was a mess of broken furniture, scattered papers, struggling bodies - Shane punched out some guy in a black jacket, who flew back out of the window and into the arms of some waiting, snarling vampires. Michael was fighting a couple more, whom he just bodily picked up and threw out. As Eve and Claire skidded into the room and broke right and left, the cop in pursuit ran headlong into Michael and got tossed out, as well.**

**"They're coming in!" Eve screamed, and slammed the kitchen door and jammed a chair under the handle. Michael grabbed the nearest bookcase - not the one with the Bible on it, Claire saw - and pulled it over to block the window, then leaned the sofa against it.**

**"Upstairs!" he yelled. "Move it!"**

**Shane grabbed Claire by the hand and pounded up the steps, half dragging her; she missed a step and stumbled, and pulled him off-balance just at the right moment, because the bat that was swung at his head missed and thumped into the wall with a crack of wood."**

"That was lucky that could have knocked Shane's brains out of his head." Eve said and it made me laugh and it was really because she was saying he had a small brain and Michael started laughing and Shane seemed upset by the comment. "Don't worry Shane I was only joking."

"**Another person hiding at the top of the stairs, this one female and tall. Shane grabbed the bat away from her and menaced her with it, driving her back down the hallway. Claire recognized her - one of the dorm girls, Lillian.**

**"Don't!" Lillian yelled, and put up her arms when Shane pulled back the bat.**

**"Hell," Shane spit in disgust. "I can't hit a girl. Here, Claire. You hit her." He tossed her the bat. Claire grabbed it and came to a clumsy batting stance, wishing she'd paid more attention in phys ed. Lillian screamed again and ran into the open doorway of Eve's room. Eve, coming up the stairs, screamed, too, for different reasons.**

**"Hey! That's my room, bitch!"**

"What she can't just go into my room it's not right."

"**And she flew in to grab Lillian by the hair, swing her around, and throw her out into the hall, then shoved her toward the stairs. "Michael! This one needs to go out!"**

**She shoved her again. Lillian tottered down the steps, and shrieked once more before leaving the building at speed, propelled by Michael-power.**

**"Check the rooms," Shane panted. "If one got in, there are probably more. Don't take chances. Yell for help."**

**Claire nodded and hurried to her room. It looked quiet, thank God - the windows were unbroken, and there was no sign of anybody hiding in the closets or under the bed. Same for the bathroom, although she had a bad shower-curtain moment.**

**She ran out into the hall and started to come to his defence, then hesitated when she saw that Eve's door was now open a crack.**

**She'd left it closed.**

**She opened it slowly, as silently as she could, and peeked around the edge...**

**...and saw Eve up against the wall, and Miranda holding a knife at Eve's throat."**

"Just what you want to see really." I said and Shane looked at me and I just shrugged. "What I was scared and I didn't know what to do."

"**She recognized the bruises and bite marks on her neck first, then the faded blue eyes as the girl's head turned toward her.**

**"Don't," Miranda said. "I have to do this. Charles says I need to. To make the visions stop. I want it to stop, Claire. You understand, right?"**

"What do you think she meant by that?" Eve asked me. "It was like she knew what you were."

"She wasn't completely lying I did understand because in one of my past lives I was like Miranda a physics I got paid a lot of money to see peoples futures and they always came true."

"Seriously you have to do mine later." Eve asked me and I nodded because I wanted to see what kind of future she had without me.

**"Let her go, Miranda, okay? Please?" Claire swallowed hard and stepped into the room. She could hear fighting from down the hall. Shane and Michael were busy. "You don't want to hurt Eve. She's your friend!"**

**"It's too much," Miranda said. "So many people dying, and I can't do anything. Charles said he'd make it go away. All I have to do is - "**

**"What? Kill Eve? Really, don't - you don't want to - to do anything - " Panicked, she looked to Eve for help. One thing was for sure: the pallor in Eve's face wasn't makeup.**

**"Yeah," Eve said faintly. "I'm your friend, Mir. You know that."**

**Miranda shook her head so hard her dark hair flew. The knife trembled against Eve's throat, and she squeezed her eyes shut, whispering something that sounded like, "Charles," and when she opened her eyes again she looked different. Not scared. Focused.**

**She's going to do something. I need to - Claire didn't have time to figure it out; she just moved, because Eve was moving, her arm flashing up and smacking Miranda's elbow. In the second that the knife was away from Eve's throat, Claire grabbed a thick handful of Miranda's hair and yanked, hard, dragging her backward. Miranda shrieked and slashed wildly at them. Eve's upraised arm got a bloody cut, and Claire moved backward, gasping, holding on to Miranda's hair and trying to stay out of cutting range.**

**Miranda swept the knife around and cut off the clump of hair a couple of inches away from Claire's knuckles. Oh no...**

**Miranda lunged at her, knife held out, and Claire ran into the black bedside table, toppled over onto the black satin comforter, and saw the knife coming for her.**

**"Hey!" Eve screamed, and spun Miranda around and slapped her, hard, across the face. Twice. When Miranda tried to stab her, Eve smacked the girl's hand into the wall and twisted her wrist until Miranda's fist opened and the knife dropped to the wood floor.**

**Miranda started crying. It was a hopeless, helpless sound, and if Claire hadn't been angry-scared, she might have actually felt sorry for her. "No, no, I don't want to see it anymore, I don't want to - he said he'd make it stop - "**

"Can killing someone really stop it?" Michael asked I shook my head.

"No he listened to Oliver and played Miranda because he knew she wanted them to stop." I explained.

"**Eve grabbed her by the arm, opened up the closet door, and stuffed Miranda inside, then jammed a wooden chair under the door handle to hold it shut. She looked furious and really, really hurt. Her arm was bleeding all over the place - not spurting, but flowing pretty freely. Claire grabbed up a black towel lying on the bureau and pressed the makeshift bandage to the wound; Eve blinked, like she'd forgotten all about it, and held it in place.**

**"Maybe she was just under his spell. Like you were, when you - " Okay, maybe it hadn't been smart to bring that up, Claire thought.**

**"That's why I slapped her," Eve said. "But I don't think that's it. Miranda's always been crazy. I just thought - well, I thought she wasn't that crazy."**

**Eve looked better. More colour in her face, anyway...and then Claire thought, no, she looked too good.**

**Claire's eyes turned to the broken window. Outside, there was a slight edge of sunlight climbing above the horizon, and the sky had turned a deep blue grey.**

**"Michael!" she blurted. "Oh my God!"**

**She left Eve and ran into the hall. Shane was just coming out of his room, shaking out his right hand. His knuckles were bloody. "Where's Michael?" she yelled.**

**"Downstairs," he said. "What the hell is that?"**

**Claire realized with a shock that somehow she was still holding the handful of Miranda's severed hair.**

**She made a face and let go, then fluttered her hand to shake off the clingy strands. "You don't even want to know. Oh, Miranda's locked in Eve's closet, by the way."**

**"Well, that's a bonus. Sorry, but I really don't like that kid."**

**"She's not growing on me, either," Claire admitted."**

The others did a fake gasp and I looked at them. "Oh shut it just because all caring Claire wasn't liking the weird kid next door grow up." They laughed and so did I.

**"Come on, we need to get to Michael."**

**"Trust me, he's doing okay without us."**

**"No, he's not," she said grimly. "The sun's coming up."**

**He didn't get it for a second, and then he did, and oh, boy. He was gone before she could yell at him to wait for her.**

**She reached the bottom of the staircase a few seconds behind, and saw him race across to where Michael was grabbing another - presumably, human - intruder on his way in through the broken-down front door.**

**"I don't need you!" he yelled at them both, and tossed the guy halfway to Kansas. "Get upstairs! Shane, show her where!"**

**Shane ignored him, plunged past him and into the hallway. Guarding the front door. Michael started to follow him, and stepped into the growing light from the back window.**

**He spun to look at it, then wordlessly at Claire. She saw the outright fear in his eyes. "No," he said. "Not now!"**

**She couldn't say or do anything to help, and she knew it. "How long...?"**

**The terrible look on his face pretty much answered the question, but he said it anyway. "Five minutes. Maybe less. Dammit!"**

**As if the vampires knew, there was a rattle at the window behind the bookcase blocking it. It heaved uneasily, then started to topple forward. Michael got in between it and the floor, caught it, and flung it back upright, then braced it again with the sofa.**

**"Back up!" Michael ordered her, and she retreated to the stairs. She could hear Shane fighting in the hall again. "Claire, you and Eve need to find a way to block everything. Seal it up. Don't let Shane - "**

**She wasn't sure what he was going to say, but just then he gasped and doubled over, and she knew that it was lost. He looked pale. Paler.**

**Mist.**

**Gone, along with a fading ghost of a scream.**

**Eve skidded to a stop beside her, eyes wide. "He's gone," she whispered, as if she really couldn't believe it. "He left us."**

**"He couldn't help it." Claire took her hand. "Come on, Eve, let's get the bookcase down the hall. We need to wedge it in the doorway."**

**Eve nodded numbly. It was like all the fight had gone out of her,** **and Claire understood why... What hope was there now? Michael had been handling things, but without him...?**

**"Help me," she said to Eve, and she meant it in every way she could.**

**Eve gave her a tiny little smile and squeezed her fingers. "You know I will."**

**Between the three of them, they managed to block the front door pretty thoroughly, wedging the bookcase in place and bracing it with two more at an angle. Sweaty, panting, scared, they looked at each other.**

**It got quiet. Weirdly quiet.**

**"Well?" Eve looked around the corner. "I don't see anything..."**

**"Can we get to the pantry?" Claire asked. "I mean, I don't hear anybody..."**

**"Too risky," Shane said. He grabbed the phone from a pile of debris and started dialling on the fly, then dropped it. "They cut the line."**

**Eve pulled her cell phone out of a holster on her belt. Shane grabbed for it, checked the signal, and held up his hand for a high five. He was already dialling when they smacked it. "Come on," he muttered, pacing, listening. "Pick up, pick up, pick up..."**

**He stopped in mid-step. "Dad? Oh, damn, it's the machine - Dad, listen, if you get this, it's Shane, I'm at Michael Glass's house in Morganville, and I need shock and awe, man - come running. You know why."**

"Really the Psycho Father Card really that wasn't the cleverest card to pull out the bag way it Shane but it did look like we were about to get killed by some stupid Vamps." Said Eve and I had to agree that Shane shouldn't have pulled that card but it was too late for that but oh well.

"**He flipped the phone shut and threw it to Eve. "Upstairs, both of you. Get in the secret room. Michael? Are you with us?"**

**Claire shivered in a sudden cold draft. "He's here."**

**"Watch out for them," Shane said. "I - I kind of have a plan." He said it as if he was half surprised.**

**"Girls. Upstairs. Now."**

**"But - "**

**"Go!" He'd learned how to yell orders from Michael, and it seemed to work, because Claire was moving for the stairs without any conscious decision to do it. The cold chill stayed around her, and she saw Eve shivering, too.**

**The upstairs was quiet, as well, except for the distant knocking sound of Miranda hammering on her door. "I don't like this," Claire said. "Oliver knows Michael can't do anything after dawn, right?"**

**"I don't know," Eve said, and chewed at her bottom lip. Most of her makeup had sweated off or gotten wiped away; even her lips were normal lip colour now, for nearly the first time Claire could remember.**

**"You're right. It's weird. Why would they just give up now?"**

**"They haven't," said a voice that Claire's tingling spine recognized before her brain. Michael's bedroom door opened, and standing there, smiling, was Monica Morrell. Gina and Jennifer were behind her.**

**They were all holding knives," **

"What is with her and knives I hate them." I said and the others look at me. "What do you know how many times she's tried hurting me with a knife?"

"**And that was a hell of a lot scarier than Miranda, no matter how crazy she might be.**

**Eve got in between Claire and Monica and began backing her away, down the hallway. "Get in your room," Eve said. "Lock the door."**

**"Won't do you any good," Monica said, leaning around Eve. "Ask me why. Go on, ask me."**

**She didn't have to. She heard the door open behind her, and whipped around to see a man in a police uniform stepping out into the hallway with his gun drawn.**

**"Meet my brother, Richard," she giggled. "Isn't he cute?" He might have been, but Claire couldn't look anywhere but at the gun, which was big and shiny and black."**

"Really you looked at the end of the gun bad mistake." Shane said and I punched him in the arm and he said his ouch and rubbed his arm.

"That's not funny and I've had 17 different guns pointed at my head over the years and that was the 17th on I think."

"**She'd never had a gun pointed at her before, and it scared her in ways that even knives didn't.**

**"Shut up, Monica," he said, and nodded toward the far end of the hall. "Ladies. Downstairs, please. We don't have to make this bloody." He sounded harassed more than anything else, like mass home invasion was just something standing between him and morning coffee.**

**Claire backed up, touched Eve, and whispered, "What do we do?" She was asking Michael, too, for all the good it would do.**

**"I guess we go downstairs," Eve said. She sounded defeated.**

**The chill swept across them stronger than ever. "Um, I think that's a no?" Warm air flooded in. "That's a yes?" More warm air. "You're kidding me, Michael. Stay here?" Fine, if you were already a ghost, but how the hell were the two of them supposed to fight off three girls with knives and a cop with a gun?**

**Eve fainted. She did it convincingly, too, so well that Claire wasn't totally for sure that she wasn't really out. Monica, Gina, and Jennifer looked down at her, frowning, and Claire bent over her, fanning at her face. "She got cut," she said. "She's lost a lot of blood." She hoped that was an exaggeration, but she wasn't too sure, because the black towel had fallen away from Eve's arm and it looked soaked.**

**"Leave her," said Monica's brother. "We only need you, anyway."**

**"But - she's bleeding! She needs - "**

**"Move." He shoved her, and she nearly ran into the knife Gina was holding out. "Monica, for God's sake, back the hell off, will you? I think I can handle some little girl!"**

**Monica frowned at him. "Oliver said we could have her when it's over."**

**"Yeah, when it's over. Which isn't now, so back the hell off!"**

**She shot him the finger, then stepped back to let Claire move past her. Claire did it as slowly as she could, manufacturing a crying jag and some shaking that, once started, felt too real to stop.**

**"See?" Monica said over her shoulder to Jennifer. "Told you she was a punk."**

**Claire doubled over, moaning, and very deliberately puked all over Monica's shoes. That was all it took.**

**Monica screamed in horror and slapped her, Gina grabbed her, Jennifer stepped away, and Richard, confused by all the sudden girl fighting, took a couple of steps back so he wouldn't put a bullet in the wrong one.**

**"Hey!" Shane's voice, loud and angry. He was on the stairs, looking through the railing at them. "Enough already. I'll give you the damn book. Just leave them alone."**

**"Not fair," Monica muttered, glaring at him. He glared right back, looking like he'd take back that hitting-a-girl rule, just once. Gladly. "Richard, shoot him."**

**"No," Richard said wearily. "I'm a cop. I only shoot who I'm told to shoot, and you aren't the chief."**

**"Well, I will be. One day."**

"Yeah right." We all said together.

**"Then I'll shoot him when you are," he said. "Shane, right? Get up here."**

**"Let them walk out of here first."**

**"Not going to happen, so just get your ass up here before I decide I don't need either one of them."**

**Richard cocked the gun for emphasis. Shane slowly came up to the top of the steps and stopped.**

**"Where is it?"**

**"The book? It's safe. And it's someplace you'll never get it if you piss me off, Dick."**

**Richard fired the gun. Everybody - even Monica - screamed, and Claire looked down at herself in shock.**

**He'd missed. There was a smoking round hole in Michael's door.**

**Oh. He hadn't missed.**

"How'd you know he hadn't missed?" Eve asked me and I looked at her.

"Because he just wanted to scare us not hurt Shane like he said he couldn't shoot anyone."

**"Kid," Richard said wearily, "I am not in the mood. I haven't slept in thirty-six hours, my sister's crazy - "**

**"Hey!" Monica protested.**

**" - And you're not my high school crush - "**

**"He is not my high school crush, Richard!"**

**"The point is, I couldn't give a crap about you, your friends, or your problems, because for me this isn't personal. Monica will kill you because she's nuts. I'll kill you because you make me kill you. Are we straight?"**

**"Well," Shane said, "that's kind of a personal question."**

**Richard aimed directly at Claire. It wasn't much of a change, but she definitely felt it, like being in the centre of the spotlight instead of just on the edges, and she heard Shane say, "Dude, I'm kidding, all right? Kidding!"**

**She didn't dare blink, or move her eyes away from the gun. If she could just keep staring at it, somehow, that would keep him from shooting her. She knew that didn't make sense, but...**

**In her side vision she saw Shane reach behind his back and pull out a book. Black leather cover. Oh no.**

**He's really going to...he can't. Not after all this. Although she didn't have any answers for how he was supposed to avoid it, either.**

**Shane held up his left hand, showing it empty, and held out the black Bible with his right.**

**"That's it?" Richard asked.**

**"Swear to God."**

"Funny one considering it's a holy bible." I said.

**"Monica. Take it."**

**She did, scowling at Shane. "You are not my high school crush, idiot."**

**"Great. I can die happy, then."**

**"I'm shooting the next person who talks who isn't my sister," Richard said. "Monica?"**

**She opened the Bible. "There's a hole in it. And another book." She stopped, staring at the inside. "Oh my God. It really is. I thought for sure she was bullshitting us."**

**"She knows better. Let me see."**

**Monica tilted the open Bible toward him, and Claire's last faint hope went away, because yes, that was the cover, with its scratchy home-engraved symbol.**

**Shane had done it. He'd given it up.**

**Somehow she'd expected better.**

**"So we're square, right?" Shane asked tensely. "No shooting or anything."**

**Richard reached out, took the Bible from Monica, and flipped it close to tuck it under one arm. "No shooting," he agreed. "I meant what I said. I'll only kill you if you make me. So thanks, I really didn't need the paperwork."**

**He walked past Shane to the stairs, and started down.**

**"Hey, wait!" Shane said. "Want to take your psycho sister with you?"**

**Richard stopped and sighed. "Right. Monica? Let's go."**

**"I don't want to," she said. "Oliver told me I could have them."**

**"Oliver's not here, and I am, and I'm telling you that we have to go. Right now." When she didn't move, he looked back. "Now. Move, unless you want to fry."**

**She blew Claire and Shane a mocking kiss. "Yeah. Enjoy the barbecue!"**

**She followed her brother down. Gina went after, and that just left Jennifer standing there, looking oddly helpless even with a knife in her hands.**

**She bent over and put it on the floor, held up her hands, and said, "Monica set a fire. You should get out while you can, and run like hell. It probably won't help, but - I'm sorry."**

**And then she was gone. Shane stared after them for a frozen second, then moved over to kneel next to Eve. "Hey. You okay?"**

**"Taking a nap," Eve said. "I thought maybe if I stayed down, you'd have it easier." She sounded shaky, though. "Help me up."**

**Shane and Claire each took a hand and pulled her up; she swayed woozily. "Did I get that right? You actually handed it over?"**

**"You know what? I did. And it kept you guys alive, so there you go. Hate me." He was going to say something else, but then stopped and frowned and nodded down the hallway.**

**There was a thin thread of smoke curling out from underneath the door of Claire's bedroom.**

**"Oh my God!" she gasped, and ran for it; the knob was hot. She instantly let go and backed away. "We have to get out of here!"**

**"Like they're going to let us go?" Shane asked. "And no way am I letting this house burn. What about Michael? He can't leave!"**

**She hadn't even thought of that, and it hit her hard. Michael was trapped. Would he die if the house burned? Could he? "Fire trucks!" she yelled. "There are fire trucks outside - "**

**"Yeah, to keep everything else from going up," Eve said. "Trust me. This is their easy answer. The Glass House goes up in flames, along with all their problem kids. Nobody's going to help us!"**

**"Then we have to do it," Shane said. "Yo, Michael! You there?"**

**"Here's there," Eve said. "I'm cold."**

**"Anything you can do?"**

**Eve looked puzzled. "Yes? No? Oh. Maybe. He says maybe."**

**"Maybe's not good enough." Shane opened the door to Eve's room and grabbed the black comforter off the bed. "Blankets, towels, whatever, get it in the bathroom and soak it down. Oh, and let Miranda out, will you? We can hate her later."**

**Claire kicked the chair out of the way from under the doorknob. The closet door flew open, and Miranda spilled out, coughing. She took one look at them and ran for the stairs.**

**"My clothes!" Eve yelped, and grabbed a double armful of hangers, then ran to Michael's room to dump them in a pile.**

**"Yeah, way to stay focused, Eve!" Shane yelled. He had the tap going in the bath, and seconds later he was back, dragging the soaking wet bundle. "Stay back."**

**He kicked open the door, and behind it Claire saw fire licking from the curtains up toward the ceiling.**

**Her bed was on fire, too. It looked like that was where Monica had started it, since it was mostly in flames.**

**"Be careful!" she yelled, and hesitated to watch as Shane yanked the curtains down, threw the wet comforter over the bed, and began stomping down flames.**

**"Don't just stand there!" he said. "Blankets! Towels! Water! Move!"**

**She dashed off." **

_**The end**_

**More of this in the next chapter keep reading **


	17. Something's up

_**Book: Glass House Chapter fifteen**_

_**Chapter sixteen**_

_**Michael's Pov: **_

Claire was still reading and the night sky was starting to show. **"The whole house smelled like smoke and burned mattress, but on the whole, it could have been a lot worse.**

**Claire's room was a mess, and her bed and curtains were a dead loss. Scorches on the floor and smoke damage on the ceiling.**

**Still.**

**Shane dumped more water on the mattress, which was already a sodden mess, and collapsed against the wall next to Claire and Eve.**

**"They've got to be wondering why we're not all screaming and burning by now," Eve said. "I mean, logically."**

**"Go look."**

"You are so lazy." Both the girls said to Shane.

"What I had to stop the fire." Shane said and the girl looked at each other.

"Still you had to make Claire go look." Eve said.

**"You go look. I've had a tough night."**

**Claire sighed, got up, and went to the unbroken window at the far end of the room. She couldn't see anything. No vampires, obviously, since the sun was blazing in the sky by now, but no human flunkies, either. "Maybe they're all out front," she said.**

**In the silence, she distinctly heard...the doorbell.**

**"You're kidding me," Shane said. "Hey, did you order pizza? Good thinking. I'm starved."**

**"I think you have brain damage," Eve shot back."**

"Do you think that was from when he was a baby." I asked Eve and she considered it and Shane started mock laughing.

"Very funny, Claire keep reading." Shane said.

**"Yeah, because I'm starved."**

**There was a crash from downstairs, and Shane stopped smiling. His eyes went dark and focused. "I guess this is it," he said. "Sorry. Last stand at the Alamo."**

**Eve hugged him and didn't say a word. Claire walked over and hugged each of them in turn, Shane last so she could spend more time doing it."**

We all looked at Claire and she kept reading because let's face it her face was going red bright red because she was getting embarrassed by us looking at her.

"**There really wasn't enough time, though, because she heard footsteps coming up the stairs, and she felt a strong chill sweep over her. Michael was with them. Maybe that was his version of a hug.**

**"Stay strong," she heard Eve whisper in her ear. She nodded and took Eve's hand. Shane stepped out in front, which was - she knew by now - just what Shane did. He picked up the baseball bat he'd retrieved from down the hall and got ready.**

**"There's no need for that," said a light, cool voice from the hallway. "You must be Shane. Hello. My name is Amelie."**

**Claire gasped and peeked around his broad back. It was the blond vampire from the church, looking perfectly cool and at ease as she stood there, hands folded.**

**"You can put that away," Amelie said. "You won't need it, I assure you."**

**She turned and left the doorway. The three of them looked at one another.**

**Is she gone? Eve mouthed. Shane edged up to the doorway and looked out, then shook his head.**

**What's she doing?**

**That was obvious one second later, as there was a faint click and the panelling on the other side popped free.**

**Amelie opened the hidden door and went up the steps."**

"It was weird at first that she knew where to go wasn't it?" Shane asked and I had to say it was strange to think that some old Vamp could come into my house without an invitation and that she knew where the secret room was.

"Yeah it was weird." I agreed.

**"I think you have some questions," she called down. "I have some, as well, as it happens, and it would be prudent if we indulged each other. If not, then of course you are free to go - but I must warn you that Oliver is not happy. And when Oliver is unhappy, he tends to be rather childish about lashing out. You are not, as they say, out of the woods quite yet, mes petits."**

**"Vote," Shane said. "I'm for leaving."**

**"Stay," Eve said. "Running won't do us any good, and you know it. We need to at least hear what she has to say."**

**They both looked at Claire. "I get a vote?" she asked, surprised.**

**"Why wouldn't you? You pay rent."**

**"Oh." She didn't even have to think about it. "She saved my life today. I don't think she's - well, maybe she's bad, but she's not, you know, bad. I say we listen."**

**Shane shrugged. "Whatever. You go first."**

"Such a man." all of us but Shane said and it was funny because Shane seemed pissed but he wasn't going to take us making fun of him for much longer.

"**Amelie had settled herself on the antique Victorian settee. There were two other vampires in the room, standing very quietly in the corner, both wearing dark suits. Claire swallowed hard and fought an urge to back up and change her vote. Amelie smiled at her, lips closed, and gestured elegantly at the chair next to the sofa. "Claire. Ah, and Eve, how lovely."**

**"You know me?" Eve asked, surprised. She took a look around at the other two vampires.**

**"Of course. I always pay attention to the dispossessed. And your parents are particular favourites of mine."**

"I don't think that's something people want to hear." Claire said and Eve nodded her head.

"Tell me about it and really she had to bring my parents into it that's just stupid." Eve said as a reply.

**"Yeah, great. So who the hell are you?" Shane asked, blunt as ever. Amelie regarded him for an instant in surprise.**

**"Shane did you have to be so blunt" eve asked him. But he just shrugged.**

**"Amelie," she said, as if that explained everything. "I thought you knew whose symbol you wore from birth, my dear."**

**Shane looked pissed off. Of course. "I don't wear any symbols."**

**"That's true. You don't now." She shrugged. "But everyone in this town did once, including those from whom you sprang. One way or another, you are owned, body and soul."**

**Shane, for once, didn't try a comeback. He just stared at her with dark, angry eyes. She didn't seem bothered."**

"Come on what kind of person gives an old lady a good comeback and then her old brain can't give her another one." Shane said and it meant he was scared of her and didn't want to get bitten if you want my opinion but it wasn't going to shout that out.

"Shane were you scared of Amelie?" Claire asked as if she had read my mind. _Actual I was one little thing us Werewolves and Vampires can do if we share a friendship of sorts. Hi Michael. _

"No I was not scared of Amelie." Shane replied to fast and Eve and Claire started laughing and saying Shane was scared of an old lady. And Shane was trying hard not to get angry and they calmed down and Claire kept on reading.

**"You have a question," Amelie stated. Shane blinked.**

**"Yeah. How did you get in here? Oliver couldn't."**

**"An excellent question, well phrased. And where I any other vampire, I would not be able to do so.**

**However, this house is my house, first and foremost. I built it, as I built several such in Morganville. I live in each of them in turn, and while I am in residence the Protections will defend me from any enemy, either human or vampire. While I am absent, they will exclude vampires, if the residents are human, and of course humans if the residents are vampires. Unless the proper permissions are given." She inclined her head. "Does that answer your question?"**

**"Maybe." Shane chewed on it a little, then said, "Why didn't it protect Michael?"**

**"He gave Oliver permission to enter, and, in doing so, forfeited the house's Protection. However, the house did what it could to preserve him." Amelie spread her hands. "Perhaps it helped that Oliver was, in fact, not trying to destroy him but to change him."**

**"Into a vampire," Eve said.**

**"Yes."**

"What do you think Change means?" Shane said sarcastically. We all throw something at him and he dogged every one of them.

**"Yes! I always wanted to ask why that doesn't work. I mean, the vampires keep on biting, but...?"**

**Amelie said nothing. She seemed to be thinking, or remembering; either way, it was a long and uncomfortable silence before she said, "Have you children any concept of geometric progression?"**

**Claire raised her hand.**

**"And how many vampires would it take to turn the entire world into vampires, if it was so simple as that?" Amelie smiled as Claire opened her mouth. "My dear, I do not expect you to answer, though if you would like to work out the math of it and tell me someday, I should be most interested to see it. The truth is that we came very near to it, in my younger years, when humans were much fewer. And it was agreed - as it has lately been agreed among you humans - that perhaps conservation of game is a wise idea. So we - removed the knowledge of how to create more vampires, simply by refusing to teach it.**

**Over time, the knowledge was lost except to the Elders, and now it is lost altogether, except in two places."**

**"Here?" Claire asked.**

**"Here," Amelie said, and touched her temple. "And there."**

**She pointed at Shane.**

**"What?" Claire and Eve both blurted, and Claire thought, oh my God I kissed him and he was a vampire," **

"Thanks that's nice really nice so even if a was one what would you of done?" Shane asked Claire she kissed him passionately.

"That's what I would of done."

"**But Shane was looking odd, too. Not lost, exactly.**

**Guilty.**

**"Yeah," he said, and put his hand in the pocket of his blue jeans. He pulled out a small book. The cover - Claire could read it from where she sat - read Shakespeare Sonnets. "It was all I could think of."**

**He tipped it sideways, and the pages slid out, away from the cover. Sliced neatly at both edges of the binding.**

**"Very clever," Amelie said.** **"You gave them the cover, filled with words they did not want, and kept for yourself what was important. But what if I told you that it was the cover they were after, and not the contents?"**

**He looked shaken. "I had to play the odds."**

**"Wise gamesmanship," she said. "In fact, I told you that Oliver is unhappy, and so he is, because he has allowed that" - she nodded toward the pages - "to slip through his fingers. And so I find that I come to you for a favour."**

**His eyes lit up, and he said, "A favour? Like a deal?"**

**"Yes, Shane. I shall make a deal for what you hold in your hand, and I promise you that it is the only deal that matters, as I am the only vampire that matters. I will take the book, and destroy the last written record of how vampires may be created, which will ensure my continued survival against my enemies, who will not dare to move against me for fear of losing what only I know." She sat back against the puffed cushions, studying him very calmly. "And for this, you and all in this house will receive my Protection for as long as you should choose to have it. This will cancel any other, lesser contracts you might have made, such as the agreement you made with Oliver, through Brandon."**

**"Oliver - is Brandon's boss?" Claire asked."**

"Well he isn't my boss." Eve said and Claire, Shane and me laughed and it seemed forced by Claire something about her today was really troubling me.

**"Boss?" Amelie considered that, and nodded. "Yes. Exactly. While I do not command Oliver, neither can he command me. Until he discovers the secrets I hold, he cannot unseat me in Morganville, and he cannot create his own followers to overwhelm mine. We are...evenly matched."**

**Shane looked down at the book in his hand. "And this would have changed that."**

**"Yes," she said softly. "That book would have destroyed us all in the end. Vampires as well as humans. I owe you a debt for this, and I will pay it as well as circumstances will allow."**

**Shane thought about it for an agonizing second, then looked at Eve. She nodded. Claire nodded when he checked for her approval, and then he held the book up. "Michael?" he asked. "Yes or no?" After another long second, he sighed. "Guess that's a yes. Well, anything that pisses off Oliver is a good deed, so..." He held it out to Amelie.**

**She made no move to take it. "Understand," she said, and her eyes were bitter cold, "that once this is done, it is done. Your Glass House will remain, but you are bound together. None may leave Morganville, after. I cannot risk your knowledge escaping my control."**

**"Yeah, well, if we go now, we're toast anyway, right?" Shane kept holding it out. "Take it. Oliver was right about one thing: it's nothing to us but death."**

**"Au contraire," she said, and her pale white fingers took it from his. "It is, in fact, your salvation."**

**She stood, looked around the room, and sighed a little. "I have missed this place," she said. "And I believe it has also missed me. Someday I will come back." She pressed the hidden catch on the arm of the settee, and without another word to them turned to leave.**

**"Hey, what about the cops?" Shane asked. "Not to mention all those people who tried to kill us today?"**

**"They answer to Oliver. I will make it known that you are not to be troubled. However, you must not further disturb the peace. If you do, and it is your fault, I will be forced to reconsider my decision. And that would be...unfortunate." She gave him a full smile. With fangs.**

**"Au revoir, children. Do take care of the house more carefully in the future."**

"What can we say we can't stay out of trouble for too long." Shane said too cheeky for his own good.

"**Her two vamp guards went with her. Smoke and silence. There was no sound on the stairs after. Claire swallowed. "Um...what did we just do?" she asked.**

**"Pretty much all we could," Shane said. "I'm checking the street."**

**They ended up going down together, in a group - Shane with the bat, Eve with the knife Jennifer had abandoned, and Claire armed with a broken chair leg sharp on one end.**

**The house was deserted. The front door was standing open, and out on the street, cop cars were pulling away from the curb around the big black Cadillac. A limousine was leaving, too. Its tinted windows cast back blinding reflections of the sun.**

**It was all over in seconds. No cars, no vampires, nobody hanging around. No Monica. No Richard. No Oliver.**

**"Crap," Shane said. He was standing on the porch, looking at what was hanging next to the doorbell. It was a black lacquered plaque with a symbol on it. The same symbol that had been on the book cover he'd sent to Oliver. "Does that mean she wrote the damn book, too?"**

We all looked at Claire and she shook her head. "You know my Father wrote the book and it was used against us." She said. "And Eve you were right about one thing." She continued reading.

**"I'll bet she did, for backup," Eve said. "You know the symbol's also on the well in the centre of town. It's the Founder symbol."**

**"She's the Founder," Shane said.**

**"Well, somebody had to be."**

**"Yeah, but I figured it was a dead somebody."**

**"Funny," Claire said, "but I think it is a dead somebody."**

"Seriously you thought the town was built by a human for Vamps to come along and take over or something." I asked.

"No I thought that it was a human who made it because they wanted to keep the Vamps away from humans. Ok so it wasn't a well-rounded idea, give me ago."

"**Which made Shane laugh, and Eve snort, and Shane slung his arm over her shoulders. "You still quitting school?" he asked.**

**"Not if I can't leave town." Claire smacked herself in the head. "Oh my God! I can't leave town! I can't ever leave town? What about school? Caltech? My parents?"**

**Shane kissed her on the forehead. "Tomorrow's problems," he said. "I'm going with let's just be glad there's a tomorrow, at this point."**

"Yeah but at that point Mike didn't have a good day but a brilliant night." Claire said I knew she meant I was alive at night and a ghost at day and know I could be anywhere at any time of the day.

"**Eve closed the front door. It swung open again in the breeze. "I think we're going to need a new door."**

**"I think we're going to need Home Depot."**

**"Do they sell stakes at Home Depot here?" Claire asked. Shane and Eve looked blank. "Dumb question. Never mind."**

"Really dumb question." Claire repeated and turned the page. "So shall we finish the book then call it a night?" we all nodded and she began reading on.

"**Chapter seventeen… Clean-up took pretty much all day, what with the broken furniture, the shattered windows, the front and back doors, and hauling Claire's damaged mattress out to the curb. They were just sitting down to dinner when the sun went behind the horizon, and Claire heard the sound of a body hitting the floor, followed by dry retching."**

"Michael's home," Eve said, as if he'd just come back from school. "You guys dig in."

"What can I say it's easy to think that than to say he's back from being a ghost. Imagine we had guessed." We all looked at Eve. "What?"

"Nothing." We all said together.

"**It took a while before she came back with Michael. Holding hands. Shane got up, smiling, and held up his hand. Michael high-fived it.**

**"Not bad, brother," Michael said. "The girls gave you enough time for the switch."**

**"Even though they didn't know. Yeah. Worked out," Shane said, pleased. "See? My plans don't all suck. Just most of them."**

**"So long as we keep on being able to tell the difference." Michael pulled up a chair. "What's for - oh, you're kidding me. Chili?"**

**"Nobody wanted to go to the store."**

**"Yeah, I guess." Michael closed his eyes. "I'm saying a prayer. Maybe you ought to, too. It's going to take us a miracle to get through this."**

**Whether he was serious or not, Claire sent the prayer up toward heaven, and she thought the others did, too."**

"Of course everyone prays sometime in their life." Claire said and I thought of what I had prayed for when I told the others to. _Don't worry Michael it will come true what you wish for and what you prayed was for freedom and that's up to you to make true not the big guy upstairs._

"**So it seemed kind of miraculous when the doorbell rang."**

"I really doubt that." Shane snarled.

**"At least they're getting more polite when they try to kill us," Shane said. Michael got up and went to the door. After a second's hesitation, they all got up and followed."**

"I swear we just always have to get into trouble anywhere we go remember on the road trip." Eve said. Yeah the road trip another town full of Vampires. We should do another one sometime soon.

"**Michael swung the new door open. Outside, in the glow of the porch light, stood a middle-aged man with a scraggly beard and a huge scar down one side of his face, dressed in black motorcycle leather. Behind him were two more guys, not quite as old and a whole lot bigger and meaner-looking.**

**Bikers. Claire nearly choked on her bite of chili.**

**The man nodded.**

**"Son," he said, looking past Michael right at Shane. "Got your message. Cavalry's here." **

"Some cavalry it's crap they might as well have the whole army they still loss." Shane said he really hated his father.

"**He walked right in, past the threshold, and ignored Michael like he wasn't even there. "About time you got your ass in gear. Been waiting for you to call for six damn months. What kept you? Took you this long to find the head bloodsucker?"**

**They followed him into the living room. Michael turned to look at Shane, who was turning red. Not meeting anybody's eyes, really. "Things have changed, Dad," he mumbled.**

**"Nothing's changed," Shane's dad said, and turned to face them, hands on hips."**

"What is he a girl having a tantrum" said Claire that got a laugh out of Shane and she kissed him softly on the cheek.

**"We came to kick us some ass and kill us some vampires, just like we planned all along. Time to get some payback for Alyssa and your mother. Nothing's going to change that."**

"How about the fact that more vamps than humans." Eve said, it was true there was then but after the Bishop issue and the Drags less vamps.

**"Dad, things are different now, we can't - "**

**Shane's father grabbed him by the hair, quick as a snake. There were tattoos on his hand, ugly dark blue smudges, and he forced Shane's head back. "Can't? Can't? We're going to burn this town down, boy, just like we agreed. And you're not changing your mind."**

**"Hey!" Michael said sharply, and reached out for Shane's dad. When he touched him, something happened, something like an electric shock that flared blue white in the room and raised the hair on Claire's arms. Michael flew back and hit the wall, too stunned to do anything.**

**"No!" Shane yelled, and tried to pull free. He couldn't. "Dad, no!"**

**Shane's dad nodded to one of his biker buddies. "Yep. He's one of them," he said. "Take care of it."**

**The biker guy nodded back, pulled a knife from his belt, and advanced on Michael.**

**"No!" Shane screamed it this time. Claire took a hesitant step forward, and stopped when Michael's wide blue eyes locked on hers. Eve was screaming, and so was Shane.**

**Miranda saw this, she thought. Michael was even standing on the rug Miranda had pointed to when she'd said, and he died...right...there. It hadn't been his first death.**

**It was his second.**

**"Guys, stay out of it!" Michael said sharply when Eve tried to lunge toward him and get between him and the biker."**

"What is it with you two boys playing the hero every time we get into something." Eve asked and both me and Shane shrugged our shoulders.

"**He was still backing away, and this time, he looked afraid.\\"**

"Who isn't afraid I was about to die by some ugly, smelly guy who thinks I'm a vamp. Why wouldn't I be afraid." I said and Eve hugged me.

"Leave her along Mike she was only scared for you like the rest of us." Eve said.

"**He hadn't been afraid of the vampires and all their minions, but this time...**

**The biker moved faster than anybody Claire had ever seen, except vampires; she didn't even see what happened, just heard the heavy thud as Michael hit the floor. The biker went down with him, holding him flat with one huge hand while the other one raised the knife.**

**"No, Dad, God, I'll do whatever you want!"**

**"Shut up," Shane's dad said, and threw Shane toward the sofa. He sprawled there, and Claire ran over to him and put her arms around him. "You bet you will. You three are going to tell me which vamps to strike first. Because it's us against them now, and don't you forget it."**

**"Three?" Eve said faintly. Her huge eyes were locked on Michael, and the biker, and the knife.**

**"Three," said Shane's dad, and nodded to the biker.**

**They all screamed as the knife came down." **Claire finished. "End of the book guys and time to get to bed." She got up dragging Shane behind her and me and Eve looked at each other and went up behind them to see them kissing passionate on the way to their room.

_**The end**_


	18. Right?

_**Chapter seventeen **_

_**Claire's Pov: **_

I kissed Shane passionately so he'd know I love him and I pushed him into our room and I noticed that my bag was in the way so I kicked it under the bed and pushed Shane to the bed he lay on his back and I jumped on top and we kissed again.

It was midnight and time for me to leave I was naked and had to get changed it was time I had to hurry before anyone noticed. I got out of the bed and changed quickly into something black and got my new bag with clothes, passport, photo album of me and the gang and I got the letter I had wrote for Shane and the other one I had wrote for Eve and Michael and it was time to leave. I jumped out the bathroom window landing perfectly underneath I walked away from the house, I saw my Father waiting for me across the road I ran to him and hugged him he hugged me back as I whimpered into his shirt and the others came over and Chelsea lead me away as we walked out of Morganville and away from my old life.

We had been walking for hours away from Morganville and I was getting stranger and more lonely as I got further away and I looked back to see nothing and I felt hollow and I wished I could of said goodbye one last time. We got to Durram and it was the same as always and I saw that the Motel that we had been in before was still there so I walked over and saw that Miss Linda and she saw me. "Well hello my girl how are you?" she asked.

"I'm good thank you but we need a place to stay and were a big family do you think you have enough rooms?" I asked and she nodded and I handed her the money she counted and handed the keys and me, Chelsea and Celyn were in one room and the others had to share rooms as well. I didn't sleep and got up from the bed and went into the hallway to see Linda she saw me and I came closer.

"Are you ok my girl really?" I started crying and she comforted me.

"I want Shane so much but I can't be with him." I told her between sobs.

"Well for whatever reason it is that you can't be with him maybe it isn't that hard to get around and I remember the way he looked at you and how you looked at him you love each other and you know that love isn't easy in life." I nodded at that it wasn't I hadn't had the best thing with love but the thing with Shane was that I would never grow old anymore and he would. Unless he was changed but that wouldn't happen and it was dangerous to turn him into a werewolf I couldn't do that to him. I got up and thanked her for the advice and went back to my room and into the bed and slept and it was soon morning and everyone was getting on their way back to the airport to England back to the house or Castle.

"So how you feeling this morning Cruz?" Chelsea asked me and I had to say I was feeling better and I would get better once I stopped thinking about it but I couldn't and I didn't want to I just smiled and we kept going to the airport in Dallas.

We got at the airport just in time for the plane and ran to the gate and got into our seats and soon the plane took off and I fell asleep wondering how the others were feeling this morning without me and if I would ever see them all again.

_**Shane's Pov: Morning**_

It was morning and Claire wasn't in the bed with me I noticed on the dresser was a letter I got out of bed and walked to the dresser I picked up the letter and started reading.

_Dear Shane _

_**I'm**__ sorry for this but I've left and __**I**__ love you so much but that love will hurt me like it is now I've go__**n**__e back home with my family. If you hate m__**e**__ now I understa__**n**__d I hate myself for leavin__**g**__ but it had to be done I can't watch you grow o__**l**__d and me st__**a**__yi__**n**__g you__**n**__g. I know you wouldn't turn into a vampire and me turning you into a werewolf is __**d**__angerous and I love you so please stay safe and I promise there is only you in my heart. _

_From Claire _

_p.s you're a father and I know the baby will hate me as well I love you and when the baby comes look after it. _

I couldn't believe this she was pregnant that was why she had been trying so hard to make yesterday better but why didn't she try telling us why couldn't she of stayed I only love her and no one else why did she have to leave me. I got changed and went out into the hall to see Michael reading a letter of his own. He looked up at me and I just fell to the floor crying and that didn't happen normally but Claire was everything to me. He showed me the letter.

_Dear Michael & Eve _

_Look after Shane for me and yourselves because I've gone back to my home with my family and I'll miss you. Thank you for looking after me all this time and Michael you made the right decision in letting me in the house to be a part of your amazing family and I'll miss you and tell Shane that I had my reasons as he well know from the letter I gave him but don't _**try****to find me because****it**_**'**__ll be dangerous the world outside of Morganville i_**s dangerous****and****i**_t wo_**n**_'t b_**e**_ as _**e**_asy whe_n_ we went to _**D**_allas but I promise one day I'll see _**you****again****and Amelie**_ won't _**help you**_ so _**try not to get into trouble**_ and I love you all. _

_From Claire _

_p.s Shane's a Father some good to top the bad news I guess and the baby will be with you because well my Father says it's not a good idea to keep it with us. I love you and tell the baby that but __**I'll write to you again**__ when the baby arrives. _

I couldn't believe Claire would say that I couldn't go find her and what would happen when I did and what she mean it was dangerous outside and the road trip to Dallas was easier to what would happen if we went to go find her and if Amelie wouldn't help who would I needed Claire so much. "So Guys what's going on?" Eve said from the bedroom door and I held the letters in the air and she read them both and she started crying and Michael held her tight so she wouldn't fall to the floor like me she stopped and hugged me and I hugged her back. I got up and went back into my room alone like I knew would happen when I found out Claire was a werewolf and I saw a picture of me and her together and it was of us at Eve and Michael's wedding and we were so happy there.

_**Week later: **_

I had been sitting in my room alone like I will always be and Claire just left me and now she was going to leave our baby why'd she do it maybe I would turn then find her and we could be together forever like we should be but maybe not but I need Claire and she needs me. I looked at the letter again rerunning the words in there what they meant. Then I noticed something about the letters some were in bold and some were normal what did that mean? I ran to Michael and Eve's room and I took the letter than Claire left them and it was the same and that meant it had something to do with Claire but what?

I started writing down the bold letters and it made words and this was what I got.

_**I'm**__**In**__**England**__**try**__**to find me because**__**it's dangerous**__**and**__**I need**__**you**__**again**__**and Amelie**__**help you**__**try not to get into trouble**__. __**I'll write to you again**_

I didn't understand was she still telling me that she was in trouble but I was so scared because I wouldn't be able to help her from here what did she mean by Amelie help you? What Amelie will help us? And when would this baby come that when she'd write again but what about? When I finished I ran down to the living room to see Eve and Michael and showed them what I had found and they seemed as shocked as I was. "So what does this mean?" Eve asked.

"That's what I want to know but do you think she will write again with more information?" I asked I was hoping they'd say _of course she will_, but they gave me a look that I wasn't sure I liked.

"I don't know but I'm sure will but why'd she leave in the first place it makes me worry and what this trouble is." Michael said and I had to say the trouble that she talked about and dangerous thing but I needed Claire again and I know she needs me as well. I just had to wait I guess and I was going to wait for Claire.

_**Claire's Pov: in England Family Castle in the moors of the east**_

I had, had enough of my Father's talk about me being the runt he always knew I was even Mother was quiet and it was driving me crazy I knew he was talking about me having a child with a human. But I was in love that made it no better as he always said but I didn't care.

I just wanted to leave but I was chained in Gold to stop me from leaving in my room I never left anywhere and I hated my Father and I was soon to be alone again because my child would be with their father and I was missing Shane so much along with Eve and Michael. I wanted my friends and to be back with them in Morganville but I knew I never would but a girl can dream can't she. Well I can't I'm chained to a wall in a castle that was once a princess before everything was ruined and now I was in a nightmare.

_**Months later (9 months): **_

_**Eve's Pov: **_

I was in my car on my way home nothing has been the same since Claire left everyone missed her and I knew Shane did he never went out unless to go to work but that was it and I saw Monica on our front porch as I pulled my car up. "What are you doing here?" I asked her rudely and I didn't care.

"It's known of your business what I was doing here." She said snarky. I walked past her and into the house and saw Shane he was looking at the TV but there was nothing on.

"Shane what was Monica doing here?" I shouted and he looked at me and I saw he was holding something and then I got closer and it was a baby. "Is that the baby?" I asked quietly he just barely heard me and he nodded and passed it over to me and walked away I knew it hurt him to see the baby it was so cute it had Claire's eyes and it looked so much like her and so of Shane. The door opened to Michael five minutes later and he came over.

"Eve you know you shouldn't take other people's babies." He joked and I saw the letter that Claire had promised.

"It's Claire's baby idiot." I said that stopped Michael and I pointed to the kitchen where Shane was and he walked off to go talked to him. I picked the letter up and saw Shane coming out with Michael.

"Can I hold the baby please?" Shane asked and I looked at him and passed the baby to him and opened the letter to see that it was Claire's writing.

"_Dear Glass House gang _

_It's me Claire I promised to write to you again when the baby was coming I'm glad to tell you that the baby is a girl and her name like I once told Shane is Carrie Alyssa Collins and I promise that I would write to you again and it's is to tell you I am in need of your help I am in a Castle in England in the east if you look on Google Maps you will find it easily and I want you to save me from my Father. But look after Carrie Alyssa and I promise I love you all and tell Carrie Alyssa that she will see me soon if you go to Amelie she will help you as I asked her in my letter to her and I will see you and please believe me when I say this but keep Carrie Alyssa safe she will grow quickly. _

_Love Claire _

_P.s be careful on a full moon keep her in the secret room bye for now." _I read the letter and I saw that Carrie Alyssa was already getting bigger as Shane was holding her. "It's like it in Twilight when Bella and Edward had a baby. Look she's growing." As I said this she was growing into a little girl of nine year old in a white dress.

"Hi I'm Carrie Alyssa Collins and your Eve Glass, Michael Glass and Shane Collins. Right?" she asked.


	19. Beaten up

_**Chapter eighteen **_

_**Carrie Alyssa's Pov: **_

It was strange that I was now a nine years old and it was cool and I couldn't wait to see Mother she talked to me before a man took me away from her he was evil I screamed as they took me away and she was crying so hard she had hide a letter under my blanket and it was ready to see my Father she never said much as she held me but my Mother was the best all the same.

I was standing in front of the three people that cared about my Mother. My Father, her best friend and her landlord and friend and they were going to help me save my Mother. The first person to say anything was my Father. "So do you know where Claire is?" I shook my head and pointed to the letter.

"That's all the information you'll need to find her she says to find Amelie right so we have to hurry before he comes." I said they didn't know that as soon as my Grandfather found out I was hiding a letter he'd be after us also Mother was to marry some royal to get the family back to the royal line that was why he had hid us away. I had to tell them and I walked out of the house into the dark with Shane, Eve and Michael followed behind me and I walked off to Founders square and they were still behind me I then hear something from behind and turned to see a vampire holding my Father by the throat. I looked for help but it was the same for everyone even Michael and then an old lady came over to us and the other vampire let the others down and the old lady looked at me.

"You must be Carrie Alyssa please to meet you and I'm Amelie come with me all of you." She said and then walked off and we followed.

We went into her office and she showed us her letter that she'd received from my Mother.

_Dear Amelie _

_I am writing to tell you when Shane, Eve, Michael and Carrie Alyssa come to you please help them as best you can I am being held prisoner by my Father in the family castle sent help I beg you. _

_From Claire _

That was it that was all she wrote to her. I must have said that out loud because Amelie looked at me and I looked at the floor. "Well yes that is all she wrote but I know of where she lives and we will be going straight there once Myrnin gets here." Just as she spoke a man came through the wall and I was guessing that was Myrnin and he nodded to us. "Come on Myrnin we must hurry" she said as she got up and we set off to a private jet that Amelie had, we set off to England Scotland and it was boring on the plane I was sat next to my Father he was looked at me.

"Father can you tell me a story about Mother of when you first met her?" I asked for his reply he handed me a book and I looked at that back to see that it was about Mother and I started reading. When we landed I had finished the book and it amazed me how Mother had lost all her memories of her past lives and still was a normal teen till well she came to Morganville and she sounded amazing I loved how my Father had gone to her room and they had their first kiss it seemed magical. We soon got to the castle and it was surrounded by guards like it was when my Grandfather was taking me away from the castle and to Morganville. We lucky sneaked into the castle and were on our search for my Mother.

It was soon close to morning when I heard a scream I recognised it as Mothers and she was in pain, I knew Father felt the same as we all ran to the sound of screaming to see her being beaten by her Father and she was crying. She looked past him and saw us and he looked round and he didn't look happy. "You foolish child how dare you send your friends here you will be punished." That's when Father couldn't take that and ran into the room and it all went pair shaped and everything happened so fast as Grandfather turned into his wolf form he attacked Father and he was beaten. He was left lying on the floor and Mother was trying her hardest to get to him but she was chained to the wall with a golden chain around her ankle she was almost close enough when Grandfather pushed her into the wall. Then Amelie came into the room with Myrnin and I looked at Mother and ran to her and Grandfather tried to stop me but Amelie got in the way and I made it to her and I hugged her tight.

"My Carrie please help your Father, I love you but it's no use it's too dangerous." She said and I knew she was scared and I looked at her.

"No Mother I'm not going to leave you here alone again I love you Mother I can't leave you here with Grandfather." I said and she touched my cheek.

"You are so much like your Father and me and in such little time and I love your Father try undoing the chain." She asked me and I pulled but it wouldn't budge and then Mother's eyes went white and the wall started to crack from the ceiling and the crack came to the place where the chain went the wall and it split open and it realised the chain ad Mother ran to Father and grabbed him and her eyes were still white. "Hello my love are you ok." She asked as if she had just come back from work which seemed like normal to them. He smiled up at her and she looked at him and kissed him sweetly and then licked her lips. "Shane please tell me do you wish to live forever with me and Carrie?" what was she saying that I would live forever but Father wouldn't. oh yeah he was human and I was only half but if he changed his DNA it would cancel out in me making me whole Werewolf like Mother and he looked at Mother and nodded and she kissed him again and then bite into his neck and his eyes closed then Mother started crying and I soon understood he was dead. "Shane you can't leave me please I only got you back you can't leave me now not ever." She was shouting and then she put her hands over his face and her eyes went red and Father started breathing rapidly and then stood up. He looked at himself to check then he looked at Mother and then me and around the room and soon realised he was alive. Mother jumped up and hugged Father then she changed into her magnificent white werewolf form and started attacking Grandfather and then I changed and so did Father and we started to help.

I was knocked into the wall and everything went black and it seemed something strange was happening and I looked up to see Mother and Father on the plane looking at me then everyone else was looking at me and I smiled and Mother showered me with kisses and I heard Eve telling her to stop and I hugged them all. "How you feeling Wolf?" that was Father and I smiled at him.

"I'm great Father so are we going home?" I asked.

"Were already home Carrie we've been waiting for you to wake up because my Father hit you too hard and well you've been asleep for a while and you were lucky because if you'd still been a Halfling then you'd of died in your sleep from the injury to your spinal cord but you're fine and we're all going home so hurry up. " Mother said I got up and we went off home and it was fun to see my new bedroom and it was Mother's old room where her and Father had their first kiss.

_**Weeks later: **_

I was getting ready for school when the doorbell went and I ran to the door to see a parcel on the doorstep I checked to see if anyone was there but I couldn't see anyone and closed the door and ran into the kitchen and gave Mother the parcel. "Mother look it's for you." She looked at it and pasted it to Father and he started laughing and pasted it to Aunt Eve and she looked amused then to Michael who looked at Mother and pasted it back to me. "So can we read it Mother please?" I asked and she nodded.

"but after school and you have to hurry and no more fighting I know you're a Collins but please stop it and make the genius in you grow." She said and I raced out of the door and went off to school.

_**The end**_


	20. To be contiuned

_**Book: Dead Girls Dance Chapter one**_

_**Chapter nineteen **_

_**Claire's Pov: **_

Carrie was getting ready for school when she came into the room and handed me a pastel "Mother look it's for you." and I looked down realising that post again wasn't today and then I looked at the others while opening the pastel and saw another book about me called Dead Girls Dance. "So can we read it Mother please?" she asked and I nodded.

"But after school and you have to hurry and no more fighting I know you're a Collins but please stop it and make the genius in you grow." I said and she raced out of the kitchen and out of the door to school.

_**Hours later: **_

It was after school and Carrie was going to be here any minute I had just come back from school as well, Eve had come back from work, Michael had come from Founder's square for the town meeting and Shane had been home because he was still going through some changes and wasn't to be around other people for a while unlike Carrie she could be around people but that was because she was born that way. I heard Carrie running into the living room and she was ready to read the book. "Mother can we read the book now!" she shouted from the living room where Shane and Michael were. Eve and I came out of the kitchen a minute later with drinks and food for us and I handed Shane the book.

"So I'm reading the book am I?" he asked and I nodded. **"It didn't happen, Claire told herself. It's a bad dream, just another bad dream." **

"What you mean another?" Eve asked me and I looked at the others.

"I use to have vivid dreams about my family because I was closer to becoming Cruz." I explained to them and Carrie looked at me and I hugged her tight. "Don't worry I don't have those dreams anymore but I remember what it was like finding your Father like that at night." I whispered to Carrie so the others couldn't hear me. Then Shane continued reading the book.

"**You'll wake up and it'll be gone like fog.**

**She had her eyes squeezed tight shut. Her mouth felt dry, shrivelled-up, and she was pressed against Shane's hot, solid side, curled up on the couch in the Glass House." **

"So hot huh?" Shane said pleased with himself and Eve and Michael snorted and Carrie and I were red in the face.

"Shane stop being so full of yourself." I said and he looked at the book.

"You said so yourself in the book in black and white you can't deny It." he said it may be true but that didn't matter. I kissed him softly on the cheek and he started reading again.

"**Terrified.**

**It's just a bad dream.**

**But when she opened her eyes, her friend Michael was still dead on the floor in front of her.**

"**Shut those girls up, Shane, or I will," Shane's father snapped."**

"He doesn't sound very nice to me." Carrie said and Shane looked at her and I saw in his eyes that he knew way more than just those words he felt pain when he was reminded of his past.

"No he wasn't a very nice man." Shane said and Carrie went over to him and hugged him tight.

"You're not like him Daddy you're the best and nothing like him ever." She said and Shane smiled and hugged her back and then read some more of the book while hugging Carrie.

"**He was pacing the wooden floor, back and forth, hands clasped behind him. He wasn't looking at Michael's body, shrouded under a thick, dusty velvet curtain, but it was all Claire could see, now that she opened her eyes again. It was as big as the world, and it wasn't a dream, and it wasn't going away. Shane's dad was here, and he was terrifying, and Michael.**

**Michael was dead. Only Michael had already been dead, hadn't he? Ghostly. Dead during the day alive at night."**

"I remember that you were the first one to find out weren't you Mommy and Michael said not to tell Daddy and Eve because he was scared of what they'd say." Carrie said and both Eve and Shane looked at Michael.

"What you found out anyway but it was my own fault so anyway it's in the past." Michael said. "Shane hurry up and read will you."

"**Claire realized she was crying only when Shane's dad turned on her, staring with red-rimmed eyes. She hadn't felt that scared when she stared into vampire eyes well, maybe once or twice, because Morganville was a scary place, generally, and the vampires were pretty terrifying."**

"Not when Eve hasn't had her coffee in the morning" Shane said that earned him a death glare from Eve. "What you are really terrifying when you haven't had your coffee."

"Whatever just read the book?" Eve said looking annoyed and Michael kissed her and she seemed to calm down after that.

"**Shanes father Mr Collins was a tall, long-legged man, and his hair was wild and curly and going grey. Long enough to reach the collar of his leather jacket. He had dark eyes. Crazy eyes. A scruffy beard. And a huge scar running across his face, puckered and liver coloured.**

**Yeah, definitely scary. Not a vampire, just a man, and that made him scary in whole different ways.**

**She sniffled and wiped her eyes and quit crying. Something in her said, Cry later; survive now. She figured that voice had spoken inside of Shane, too, because Shane wasn't looking at the velvet-covered sprawl of his best friend's body. He was watching his father. His eyes were red, too, but there were no tears.**

**Now Shane was scaring her, too.**

"**Eve," Shane said softly, and then, louder, "Eve! Put a sock in it!"**

"You didn't have to shout at me you know" Eve said.

"Well I didn't want my dad to hit you so I had to get you to shut up or he would of." Shane explained.

"**Their fourth roommate, Eve, was collapsed in an awkward heap against the far wall by the bookcases, as far from Michaels body as she could get. Knees up, head down, she was crying hard and hopelessly. She looked up when Shane yelled her name, and her face was streaked with black from running mascara, half her Goth white makeup gone. She had on her deaths-head Mary Jane shoes, Claire noticed. She didn't know why that seemed important.**

**Eve looked completely lost, and Claire slipped off the couch and went to sit beside her. They put their arms around each other. Eve smelled of tears and sweat and some kind of sweet vanilla perfume, and she couldn't seem to stop shaking. Shock. That was what they always said on TV, anyway. Her skin felt cold.**

"**Shhhh," Claire whispered to her. "Michaels okay. It's all going to be okay." She didn't know why she said that it was a lie; it had to be a lie; they'd all seen what happened but something told her it was the right thing to say." **

"Mommy knows because she's the best ever and can always tell" Carrie said and hugged my side and I hugged her and Shane read on.

"**And sure enough, Eves sobbing slowed, and then stopped, and she covered her face with shaking hands.**

**Shane hadn't said anything else. He was still watching his dad, with the kind of intense stare most guys reserved for people they'd like to pound into hamburger. If his dad noticed, he clearly didn't care. He continued to pace, up and down. The guys had brought with him walking slabs of muscle in black motorcycle leather, shaved heads and tattoos and everything were standing in the corners, arms folded. The one who'd killed Michael looked bored as he flipped the knife in his fingers.**

"**Get up," Shanes dad said. He'd stopped pacing, and was standing right in front of his son. "Don't you dare give me any crap, Shane. I told you to stand up!"**

"**You didn't have to do that", Shane said, and slowly stood, feet slightly apart. Ready to take (or give) a punch, Claire thought. "Michael wasn't any threat to you."**

"**He's one of them. Undead."**

"**I said he wasn't a threat!"**

"Thanks man for standing up for me." Michael said and Shane nodded his head I knew that he had wished he could have done more for Michael but no one could of.

"**And I say that you just don't want to admit your friends turned freak of nature on you." Shane's dad reached out and awkwardly punched Shane on the shoulder. It was supposed to be a gesture of affection, Claire supposed. Shane just rode with the blow. "Anyway, done is done. You know why we're here. Or do you need a reminder?"**

**When Shane didn't answer, his father reached into his leather jacket and took out a handful of photographs. He threw them at Shane. They bounced off of Shane's chest, and he reflexively tried to catch them, but some drifted free and fell to the wood floor. Some slid over toward Claire and Eve.**

"**Oh God," Eve whispered.**

**They were pictures of Shanes family, Claire guessed Shane as a cute little boy, arm around an even tinier little girl with a cloud of curly black hair. A pretty woman standing behind them, and a man she could barely recognize as Shanes dad. No scar, back then. Hair cut short. He looked normal. Smiling and happy.**

**There were other pictures, too. Eve was staring at one of them, and Claire couldn't make any sense of it. Something black and twisted and Shane bent over and snatched it up, fumbling it back into the pile.**

**His house burned. He got out. His sister wasn't so lucky.**

**Oh God that twisted thing was Alyssa." **

I went over to Shane and hugged him and whispered small little things to comfort him because I knew how much he hated himself for not doing anything about his sister.

"**That was Shane's sister. Claire's eyes filled up with tears, and she covered her mouth with both hands to hold in a scream, not because what was in the picture was gross it was but Shanes own father had made him look at it.**

**That was cruel. Really cruel. And she knew it wasn't the first time.**

"**Your mother and sister are both dead because of this place, because of the vampires. You didn't forget that, did you, Shane?"**

"**I didn't forget!" Shane shouted. He kept trying to make the pictures fit into a neat stack, but he didn't look at them at all. "I dream about them every night, Dad. Every night!**

**Good. It was you got this started. You'd better remember that, too. Cant back out now."**

"**I'm not backing out!"**

"**Then what's all this crap, Things have changed, Dad?" Shane's dad mimicked him, and Claire wanted to punch him, never mind that he was about four times her size and probably a whole lot meaner." **

"So Claire do you think you could take him on now?" Shane said to me hiding how much pain he was in I could see it in his eyes.

"Of course he's a brain in a jar so maybe but that wouldn't be very nice now would it." I said and hugged Carrie and Shane.

"**You hook up with your old friends and next thing I know, you lose your nerve. That thing was Michael, right? The Glass kid?"**

"**Yes." Shane's throat worked hard, and Claire saw tears glitter in his eyes. "Yeah, it was Michael."**

"**And these two?"**

"**Nobody."**

"**That one looks like another vamp." Shane's father fixed his red-rimmed glare on Eve, and took a step toward where Claire and Eve were huddled on the floor.**

"**You leave her alone!" Shane dropped the pictures into a pile on the couch and jumped into his father's path, fists clenched. His dads eyebrows raised, and he gave Shane a scar-twisted grin. "She's not a damn vampire. That's Eve Rosser, Dad. Remember Eve?"**

"**Huh," his father said, and stared at Eve for a few seconds before shrugging. "Turned into a wannabe, then, just about as bad in my book. What about the kid?"**

**He was talking about Claire.**

"**I'm not a kid, Mr Collins," Claire said, and clambered to her feet." **

"I really hate being called a kid it's so annoying being called a kid just because your sixteen years old." I said and Shane laughed at that and so were Eve and Michael.

"**She felt awkward, all strings and wires, nothing working right. Her heart was hammering so hard, it hurt to breathe. "I live here. My name is Claire Danvers. I'm a student at the university."**

"**Are you." He didn't make it a question. "You look a little young."**

"**Advanced placement, sir. I'm sixteen."**

"**Sweet sixteen." Mr Collins smiled again, or tried to the scar pulled the right side of his mouth down. "Never been kissed, I'll bet."**

"I'll have you know I have been kissed in my other lives so there Mr Collins." I said sarcastically and the others looked at me. "What I'm older than all of you just because I've kissed over my age on boys doesn't mean I'm a slut like Monica." The looked at me and laughed.

"We know you're not a slut CB don't worry come on lets finish the chapter." Eve said and then Carrie looked at me.

"Yes and you're going to bed and then you'll be going to school and your dad will be back at work if they don't fire him." I said and looked at Shane innocently.

"Don't look at me like that I know you're up to something." Shane said and I laughed because I did and it was great.

"**She felt her face go red. Couldn't stop it, or keep her from looking at Shane. Shanes jaw was set tight, muscles fluttering. He wasn't looking at anything in particular.**

"**Oho! So it's like that. Well, you watch yourself around the jailbait, my boy." Still, Shane's dad looked weirdly pleased. "My names Frank Collins. Guess you figured out that I'm this one's father, eh? Used to live in Morganville. I've been gone a few years now."**

**Since the fire, Claire said, and swallowed hard. "Since Alyssa died. And Shanes mom?" Because Shane had never said a word about her.**

"**Molly died later," Mr Collins said. "After we left. Murdered by the vamps… **And that is the end of the chapter folks." Shane said and I picked a sleeping Carrie and took her upstairs into her room that use to be mine where I had so many different experiences with my friends and my life and now Carrie was going to have some experiences of her own and I was going to look after her as best I could and I had a really do surprise for Shane tomorrow and I knew he was going to love it. I put Carrie in her bed tucking her in and walked out to my bedroom where Shane was and he was in bed looking pleased and I came under the covers fully clothed and smiled at him and he kissed me sweetly and I took off my clothes one by one and I fell asleep as a happy woman.

_**Next day early morning: **_

_**Shane's Pov: **_

It was morning and as always Claire was first up and I saw that she had left out clothes for me like she had something planned and she acted strange when I called her out on it but she didn't tell me. I got out of bed and into the clothes and went downstairs to Claire and Eve cooking and Carrie and Michael waiting for the food and some papers with mine and Claire's name on. I looked at them and Claire turned around from her cooking and smiled at me. "Read them" was all she said and she went back to cooking, I sat down and started reading the papers in front of me and I realised that Claire had found a building and people to work at a gym and that it was my gym my gym I had to be dreaming I pinched myself it wasn't a dream.

"Claire did you do this?" I asked and she turned around smiling and I smiled back.

"yeah you got fired from your other job yesterday and I was planning on doing this beforehand anyway but I though your fit and health so I thought how much you like the gym so I bought one for you so it mine and yours if you want but I'm still working for Myrnin and going to College but I can help out when ever." She said she was saying so much and it was all so amazing I couldn't believe it I had my own gym. "And you start today boss." She told me and I then realised I was wearing clothes that looked comfortable for working out and anything else. I looked at Claire and ran over to her hugging her around the waist.

"You're the best girlfriend ever." I said to her and she turn to face me and smiled.

"Why don't we go down there before I go to school together and we can open the place." She said to me and I nodded and Michael laughed and it was time to go in no time.

When we got there it was huge it was amazing it was exactly like in my dreams and we started opening up and people started coming in and it was great and Claire had gone to school and business was busy people coming in all day.

By the end of the day we had lots of money but I still had to pay for the employees and the tax on the building also the rent for me, Claire and Carrie because well it was what I had to do. But I still had money left for me to spend on something for me and Claire for the future. I got home and Claire was in the hallway with a drink in hand and handed it to me it was coffee and we went into the living room and started reading the book again. But Eve was reading this time. "Ok Shane's here so let's get this party started." I sat down on the sofa with Claire and Carrie hugging my sides and life was great. **"Chapter two… **

**Eve spoke for the first time a soft, tentative voice. "How did you remember? About Morganville, after you left town? I thought nobody did, once they left."**

"**Molly remembered," Mr Collins replied. "Little bit at a time. She couldn't forget Lyssa, and that opened the door, inch by inch, until it was all there. So we knew what we had to do. We had to bring it down. Bring it all down. Right, boy?"**

**Shane nodded. It didn't look like agreement so much as a wish not to get smacked for disagreeing." **

"I wasn't agreeing I'd never agree with that bastard he'd have to be dead then brought back from the devil before that happened." I said because it was true I hated Frank also known as my dad but I had a reason and I hoped that Carrie never felt that towards me. Then Eve started reading again.

"**So we spent time preparing, and then I sent Shane here back to Morganville to map the town for us, identify targets, do all the stuff we wouldn't have time to do once we rolled in. Couldn't wait any longer once he yelled for help, though. Came running."**

**Shane looked sick. He wouldn't look at Eve, or Claire, or Michael's body. Or his father. He just stared. There were tear tracks on his cheeks, but Claire couldn't remember seeing him cry, really."**

Michael looked at me and I nodded. "I cried because my best friend was stabbed and I couldn't do anything about it." I said and Michael looked at me and he got up I did as well and we had a manly hug and sat back down and Eve continued reading.

"**What are you going to do?" Claire asked faintly.**

"**First thing, I guess we bury that", Mr Collins said, and nodded toward Michael's shrouded body. "Shane, best you stay out of the way."**

"**No! No, don't you touch him! I want to do it!"**

"Thanks man real nice" Michael said sarcastically and I knew it may of sounded strange but if I had done it then I'd know they hadn't hurt him more than was needed also that I'd of just buried him because he wasn't a vamp.

"**Mr Collins gave him a long frowning look. "You know what were going to have to do." he glanced at Eve and Claire "to make sure he doesn't come back."**

"I bet it was so Michael wouldn't beat the crap out of him if he did." Eve said and that might be true but mostly so he could count down one less maybe vampire.

"**That's folklore, Dad. You don't have to."**

"**That's the way were going to do things. The right way. I don't want your friend coming back at me next time the sun goes down."**

"**What is he talking about?" Claire whispered to Eve. Sometime in the last few minutes, Eve had gotten up to stand next to her, and their hands were clasped. Claire's fingers felt cold, but Eves were like ice.**

"**He's going to put a stake in his heart," Eve said numbly. "Right? And garlic in his mouth? And…"**

"**You don't need all the details," Mr Collins interrupted. "Let's get this done, then. And once were finished, Shanes going to draw us a map of where to find the high-rolling vampires of Morganville."**

"**Don't you know?" Claire asked. "You lived here."**

"I still think that was a good question if you ask me." Claire said and she seemed to be lightly angry at what I had done back there but it was to protect her and Eve I'd do it again if I had to and save Michael along the way if I could but that might not have happened the second time round.

"**Doesn't work like that, little girl? Vamps don't trust us. They move around they have all kinds of Protection to keep themselves safe from retribution. But my boys found a way. Right, Shane?"**

"**Right," Shane said. His voice sounded absolutely flat. "Let's get this done."**

"**But Shane, you can't"**

"**Eve, shut up. Don't you get it? There's nothing we can do for Michael now. And if he's dead, it won't matter what we do to him. Right?"**

"**You can't!" Eve yelled it. "He isn't dead!"**

"And I was right as always" Eve said and I looked at her.

"Eve the only reason for you shutting up was so they wouldn't know he wasn't dead then it would make it easier on Michael" I said and Eve didn't like the idea of her being slapped as an idiot. "Don't worry Eve he still though Mike was dead so it worked fine I just didn't know that much."

"You still saved the day Shane" Michael said and I looked at him and then at Eve then at Claire and they had all nodded and I was happy.

"**Well," Mr Collins said, "I guess that'll be his problem when we plant a stake in him and chop off his head."**

**Eve screamed into her clenched fists, and collapsed to her knees. Claire tried to hold her up, but she was more solid than she looked. Shane instantly whirled and crouched next to her, hovering protectively and glaring at his father and the two motorcycle dudes standing guard over Michael's body.**

"**You're a bastard," he said flatly. "I told you, Michael was no threat to you before, and he's no threat now. You killed him already. Let it go."**

**For answer, Shane's father nodded to his two friends accomplices? Who then reached down, seized hold of Michael's body, and dragged him out and around the corner to the kitchen door." **

"Mike do you remember much about that when you died the second time?" Claire asked and Michael shook his head.

"No I don't remember anything I was part of the house but I don't remember a lot about when one of the bikers killed me." He said and I understood what he meant and so did the others.

"**Shane bolted back to his feet.**

**His father stepped into his path and backhanded him across the face, hard enough to stagger him. Shane put up his palms defense, not offense. Claire's heart sank.**

"**Don't," Shane panted. "Don't, Dad. Please don't."**

"That had to be my lowest point in front of you guys me getting hit." I said and Claire hugged me.

"Everyone has low points Shane and it doesn't matter we care about you and it was your own dad Shane I know it's hard to think of him otherwise but it doesn't matter ok." Claire said and it reminded me of finding her getting beaten by her father and I couldn't do anything about it. But I could now and kill him.

"**His father lowered the fist he'd raised for a second blow, looked down at his son, and turned away. Shane stood there, shaking, eyes cast down, until his father's footsteps moved away, toward the kitchen.**

**Then Shane spun around, lunged forward, and grabbed Claire and Eve by the arms. "Come on!" He hissed, and towed them both stumbling toward the stairs. Move!**

"**But," Claire protested. She looked over her shoulder. Shanes father had gone to look out the window, presumably at whatever they were doing in the backyard (oh God) to Michaels body. "Shane"**

"**Upstairs," he said. He didn't leave them much choice; Shane was a big guy, and this time he was using his muscle. By the time Claire got herself together, they were upstairs, in the hallway, and Shane was shoving open the door to Eve's room. "Inside, girls. Lock the door. I mean it. Don't open it for anybody but me."**

"**But Shane!"**

**He turned to Claire, took hold of both of her shoulders in those big hands, and leaned forward to plant a warm kiss on her forehead. "You don't know these guys," he said. "You're not safe. Just stay in there until I get back."**

**Eve, looking dazed, murmured, "You have to stop them. You can't let them hurt Michael!"**

**Shane locked eyes with Claire, and she saw the grim sadness. "Yeah," he said. "Well, that's pretty much done. Just I have to look out for you now. It's what Michael wants."**

"Bloody right I do I'd want you to look after the girls with your life and sorry man that I didn't tell you about coming back, but it were for your own protection." Michael said and I knew he was right because I'd of done the same.

"**Before Claire could summon up anything else in protest, he pushed her back over the threshold and slammed the door. He banged on it once with his fist. "Lock it!"**

**She reached up and flipped the dead bolt, then turned the old-fashioned key, as well. She stayed where she was, because she could feel, somehow, that Shane hadn't moved away.**

"**Shane?" Claire pressed herself against the door, listening. She thought she could hear his uneven breathing. "Shane, don't let him hurt you again. Don't."**

**She heard a breathless sound that was more like a sob than a laugh. "Yeah," Shane agreed faintly. "Right."**

**And then she heard his footsteps moving away, down the hall to the stairs.**

**Eve was sitting on her bed, staring into space. The room smelled like a fireplace, thanks to the fire that had raged next door, in Claire's room, but there was only some smoke damage, nothing really serious. And besides, with all the black Goth stuff everywhere, you couldn't even really tell.**

**Claire sat down on the bed beside Eve. "Are you okay?"**

"**No," Eve said. "I want to go look out the window. But I shouldn't, right? I shouldn't see what they're doing."**

"**No," Claire agreed, and swallowed hard. "Probably not a good idea." She rubbed Eves back gently and thought about what to do and that wasn't much. It wasn't like allies were exactly falling off the trees around here. Besides Shane, they had nobody else. Their second-best choice was a vampire.**

**How scary was that?"**

"Really scary" All of us said but Carrie she hadn't really understood at that point we were on our own and that still we had defeated every obstacle in our way and was still here.

"**Still, she could call Amelie. But that was a little like arming a nuclear weapon to take care of an ant problem. Amelie was so badass, the other badass vampires backed down without a fight. She'd said, **_**I will make it known that you are not to be troubled. However, you must not further disturb the peace. If you do, and it is your fault, I will be forced to reconsider my decision. And that would be…**_

"**Unfortunate," Claire finished aloud, in a whisper. "Yeah. Pretty unfortunate." And there was no way that this didn't constitute disturbing the peace or wouldn't, as soon as Shanes dad got rolling. He'd come to kill vampires, and he wasn't going to be stopped by any little considerations like, oh, his sons life and safety.**

**No, not a good idea to call Amelie.**

**Who else? Oliver? Oliver wasn't exactly at the top of Claire's Best Friends Forever list, although in the beginning shed thought he was pretty cool, for an old guy. But he'd been playing her, and he was the second-most badass vamp in town. Who'd use them, and this situation, against Amelie if he could?**

**So no. Not Oliver, either. The police were bought and paid for by the vampires. Her teachers at school no. None of them had impressed her as being willing to stand up to pressure.**

**Mom and Dad? She shuddered to think what would happen if she put in a frantic yell to them For one thing, they'd already had their memories altered by Morganville's strange psychic field, or so she assumed, since they'd forgotten all about ordering her home for living off campus. With boys. Mom and Dad weren't exactly the kind of backup she needed, not up against Shanes dad and his bikers.**

**Her cousin Rex now, there was an idea. No, Rex had been sent to jail three months ago. She remembered Mom saying so.**

**Face facts, Danvers. There's nobody. Nobody coming riding to the rescue.**

**It was her, Eve, and Shane against the world.**

**So the odds were about three billion to one." **Eve had finished and I realised that well it was strange to hear what Claire was thinking about when I was down there getting beaten by my dad.

It was dinner time and Carrie was asking so many questions about what happened next and I said "To be continued" she didn't like the idea of being in school and still having to wait but it was for the better. We had our dinner and went off to bed for tomorrow was the weekend and it was going to be a long day of reading.

_**The end **_


	21. It's not your fault

_**Book: Dead Girls Dance Chapter two**_

_**Chapter twenty **_

_**Michael's Pov: **_

I woke up to find Eve gone from bed I had a guess she was downstairs with Claire and Carrie cooking I hope the food doesn't burn again that'll be a pain. I got changed and went downstairs to the kitchen to find… Eve had burned the food I was about to say something then Claire stepped in. "This food we prepared live again." Then suddenly there was a live pig and chicken in the kitchen and Carrie was laughing and Claire and Eve were trying to catch the running pig around the kitchen, Shane came in looking at me for some idea of what was happening I just shrugged my shoulder then looked at the girls again. Soon we were having breakfast like nothing happened. The food was great and so was the conversation, we talked about nothing really but still talked, when breakfast was over me and Shane made snacks for us all while Claire read the book. We made all kinds of food as we made the food Shane and I talked about the new gym and how it was going. "Yea it's great more money coming in for me and Claire but I'm worried it won't stay like that but who knows." Shane said sadly that was true his business could stop but he was the only gym now after what had happened when he had gone nutty but that was in the past. We went out of the kitchen and Claire was sitting on the floor by the coffee table she seemed ready but Carrie was missing.

"Claire where's Carrie?" I asked she pointed upstairs.

"She's talking to a friend who just moved in next door there talking about everything but you know what." She replied I understood but it was dangerous not to know but Claire was part of this town she was the second in command now after what happened with the draugs. I didn't like thinking about that but Claire always acted like she was just a normal teen but she was really a 650 year old who saved people a lot of the time. To anyone who didn't know about the vampires they didn't know about Claire or Cruz as she was known as.

Carrie soon came down with another girl she seemed sweet but that wasn't going to help her (image on profile). She went straight out the door and shut the door and Claire opened the book. **"Chapter three… It was a long, long day. Claire eventually stretched out on one side of the bed, Eve on the other, each wrapped in her own separate cocoon of misery and heartache. They didn't talk much. There didn't seem to be a lot to talk about." **

"Let me think Eve what could we of talked about?" Claire joked and Eve caught on.

"I don't know Claire maybe how good that day was or what we should wear the next time there was a party?" Again Eve joked but Claire started reading again.

"**It was almost dark when the doorknob rattled, sending Claire into a heart-pounding terror seizure; she advanced slowly, and whispered, "Who is it?"**

"It's the bogyman how'd you think it was?" Shane said sarcastically but I knew he really cared he had told them to never answer to anyone but him to protect them like I wanted.

"**Shane."**

**She unlocked fast and opened up. Shane came in, head down, carrying a tray on which sat two bowls of chilli which made sense, because it was nearly the only thing Shane knew how to fix.**

**He set it down on the edge of the bed, next to Eve, who was sitting like an unstuffed rag doll, limp with grief and dejection.**

**Eat something, he said. Eve shook her head. Shane picked up a bowl and shoved it in her direction; she took it just to avoid wearing it, and glared at him."**

"He wouldn't dare throw that over me not when he would want to get another shiner." That seemed to get a few stares from the rest of us but Carrie.

"Auntie Eve what you mean by that what happened to daddy?" Carrie asked she turned to look at Eve but Claire cut her off.

"**Claire saw her expression change into something else. Blank at first, then horrified.**

"**It's nothing," Shane said as Claire came around to see. It wasn't… nothing. It was bruises, dark ones, spilling over his cheek and jaw. Shane avoided looking at her. "My fault."**

"**Jesus," Eve whispered. "Your dad"**

"Daddy," was all Carrie said as she ran over to Shane and hugged her you could see the regret in Shane's eyes he was wishing that that would last forever I saw Claire looking at them and a tear went down her check but I didn't understand why.

"**My fault," Shane snapped back, got up, and headed for the door. "Look, you don't understand. He's right, okay? I was wrong."**

"**No, I don't understand," Claire said, and grabbed his arm. He pulled free without any effort at all and kept walking. "Shane!"**

Shane looked up at Claire and said "Sorry" she smiled and replied "its ok it wasn't your fault" he nodded his head and it seemed sad to me that Shane and Claire looked so sorry for each other.

"**He paused in the doorway and looked back at her. He looked bruised, beaten, and sullen, but it was the desperation in his eyes that scared her. Shane was always strong, wasn't he? He had to be. She needed him to be.**

"**Dad's right," he said. "This town is sick, it's poisoned, and it's poisoning us, too. We can't let it beat us. We have to take them out."**

"**The vampires? Shane, that's stupid! You can't! You know what'll happen!" Eve said. She put the bowl of chilli back on the tray and got off the bed, looking tear streaked and forlorn but more like herself. "Your dads crazy. I'm sorry, but he is. And you can't let him drag you down with him. He's going to get you killed, and Claire and me, too. He already…" She caught her breath and gulped. "He already got Michael. We can't let him do this. Who knows how many people are going to get hurt?" **

"**Like Lyssa got hurt?" Shane asked. "Like my mom? They killed my mom, Eve! They were willing to burn us up in this house yesterday, don't forget, and that included Michael."**

"**But…"**

"**This town is bad," Shane said, and looked at Claire, almost pleading. "You understand, right? You understand that there's a whole world out there, a whole world that isn't like this?"**

"**Yes," she said faintly. "I understand that. But"**

"**Were doing this. And then were getting out of this place."**

"**With your father?" Eve managed to put a whole dictionary of contempt into that. "I don't think so. I look good in black, but not so great in black and blue."**

**Shane flinched. "I didn't say look, just the three of us. We get out of town while my dad and the others"**

"**We run?" Eve shook her head. "Brilliant. And when the vamps have a big party and roast your dad and his buddies, what then? Because they're definitely going to come looking for us. Nobody escapes who had any part in killing a vampire, you know that. Unless you really believe that your dad and his idiot muscle are going to be able to take down hundreds of vamps, all their human allies, the cops, and, for all I know, the U. S. Marines."**

"**Eat your damn chilli," Shane said.**

"**Not without something to drink. I know your chilli."**

"I think all of us know Shane's chill." Eve stated and we all laughed including Shane and Carrie looked up at Shane with a strange look in her eyes must have been pride?

"**Fine! I'll get you Cokes!" He slammed the door behind him. "Lock it!"**

**Claire did. This time, Shane didn't linger in the hall; she heard the hard thump of his boots as he went downstairs.**

"**Did you have to do that?" she asked Eve. She leaned against the door and folded her arms.**

"**Do what, exactly?"**

"**He's confused. He lost Michael, his dads got him"**

"**Say it, Claire: his dads got him brainwashed. Worse. I think his dads beaten the fight out of him. He's certainly beaten the brains out of him."**

"Hey so what I was trying to protect you the best way I could, I still couldn't that guy got into your room because I was careless." Shane said, I knew what he was talking about because I had stopped it before any harm came to the girls. But I saw in his eyes that he wished he could have stopped it because if I was too late or really dead then something would have happened. I knew that.

"**Eve wiped at her face impatiently; there were more tears streaming down her cheeks, but it was more like water escaping under pressure than real sobs. His dad wasn't always like this. He used to be well, not nice, because he was kind of a drunk, but better. Way better than this. After Lyssa he just went crazy. I didn't know about Shane's mom. I thought she just, you know killed herself. Shane never really said.**

**Claire hadn't heard any footsteps on the stairs, but she heard and felt a soft knock through the door, and then a rattle of the doorknob. She unlocked and swung it open, holding out her hands for the Cokes she expected Shane to thrust at her and there was a grinning, smelly mountain of a man in the doorway. The one who stabbed Michael.**

**Claire let go of the door and stumbled back, thinking only an instant later, stupid that was stupid you should have slammed it but it was too late; he was already inside, closing the door behind him.**

**And locking it."**

That was not good I knew that and I thought to myself how me and Shane had done in the girls we loved but when I looked at Carrie she seemed to struggle with what she was hearing and Shane wasn't looking at anyone he was feeling guilty.

"**She looked in terror at Eve. Eve lunged forward, grabbed Claire, and hustled her around to the far side of the bed and stepped in front of her. Claire looked frantically around for a weapon. Anything. She picked up a heavy-looking skull, but it was plastic, light and utterly useless.**

**Eve yanked a field hockey stick from under her bed.**

"**Let's do this nice," the man said. "That little stick isn't going to do you any good, and it's only going to piss me off." His lips widened in a grin, revealing big, square, yellow teeth. Or get me all excited.**

**Claire felt sick and faint. This wasn't like Shane coming into her room the other night, not at all. This was the flip side of men, and although she heard about it you couldn't grow up without that she'd never really seen it. Some jerks, sure, but there was something horrible about this guy. Something that looked at her and Eve like pieces of meat he was about to devour.**

"**You're not touching us", Eve said, and raised her voice. "Shane! Shane, get your ass up here now!"**

**There was a touch of panic in her voice, although she was putting on a good front. Her hands were shaking where they gripped the hockey stick.**

**The man glided around the end of the bed, prowling like a cat. Six feet tall, at least, and as broad as two of Eve, maybe bigger. His bare arms were ripped with muscle. His blue eyes looked shallow and hungry.**

**Claire heard the thump of footsteps outside, and then a bang as Shane fetched up against the locked door. He rattled the knob and pounded hard. "Eve! Eve, open up!"**

"**She's busy!" The biker yelled, and laughed. "Oh yeah, going to be real busy."**

"**No!" Shane screamed it, and the door shook with the strength of the blows he put into it. "Stay away from them!"**

**Eve backed Claire up, all the way to the window. She took a swipe at the biker, who just stepped back out of range, still laughing.**

"**Get your dad!" she yelled at Shane. "Make him do something!"**

"**I'm not leaving you!"**

"**Do it, Shane, now!"**

**Footsteps pounded down the hall. Claire swallowed, feeling suddenly even more alone and vulnerable. "Do you think his dad will come?" She whispered. Eve didn't answer.**

"**I swear to God, you come near us and like this?" The biker sidestepped a slash from the hockey stick, grabbed it on the way, and yanked it out of Eve's hands.**

**He tossed it over his shoulder to land on the floor with a clatter. This near enough? "Whatcha gonna do, doll girl? Cry all over me?"**

**Claire hid her eyes as the biker reached out for Eve with one tattooed hand.**

**No, Eve said breathlessly. I'm going to let my boyfriend beat the crap out of you.**

**There was a dull thud of wood meeting flesh, and a howl. Then another, harder thud and a crash as a body hit the floor.**

**The biker was down. Claire stared at him in disbelief, then looked past him, to the figure standing there with the field hockey stick in both hands.**

**Michael Glass.**

**Back from the dead, again, a gorgeous blond avenging angel, breathing hard. Flushed with anger, blue eyes flashing. He glanced at the two girls, making sure they were okay, and then put the blade of the hockey stick on the biker's throat. The bikers eyes fluttered and tried to open, but didn't make it. He relaxed into unconsciousness.**

**Eve flew toward Michael, leaped over the biker's body, and fastened herself around Michael like she was trying to be sure he was all there. He must have been; he winced from the force of the impact, then kissed her on the top of her head without looking away from the man lying limp at their feet.**

"**Eve," he said, and then glanced at her and gentled his tone. "Eve, honey, go open the door."**

**She nodded, stepped away, and followed instructions. Michael handed her the hockey stick, grabbed the biker by the shoulders, and towed him quickly out into the hallway. He closed the door again, locked it, and said, "Right, here the story Eve, you knocked him out with the hockey stick and"**

**He didn't finish, because Eve grabbed him and pushed him back against the door, wrapping herself around him like a Goth-girl coat. She was crying again, but silently; Claire could see her shoulders shaking. Michael sighed, put his arms around her, and bent his blond head to rest against her dark one.**

"**It's okay," he murmured. "You're okay, Eve. Were all okay."**

"**You were dead!" she wailed, muffled by the fact that her face was still pressed against his chest. "Damn you, Michael, you were dead, I saw them kill you, and they"**

"**Yeah, it wasn't too pleasant." Something passed fast and hot across Michaels eyes, the reflection of a horror that Claire thought he didn't want to remember or share. "But I'm not a vampire, and they can't kill me like a vampire. Not while the house owns my soul. They can do pretty much anything to my body, but it just gets fixed."**

**The prospects of that made Claire sick, like standing on the edge of a huge and unexpected drop. She stared at Michael, wide-eyed, and saw he understood the same things she did: that if Shanes father and his merry band of thugs found out, they might decide to test that out. Just for fun.**

"**That's why I'm not here," Michael said. "You can't tell them. Or Shane."**

"**Not tell Shane?" Eve pulled back. "Why not?"**

"**I've been watching," he said. "Listening. I can do that when I'm, you know"**

"**A ghost?" Claire supplied.**

"**Exactly." I saw Michael didn't go on, but Claire thought she knew what had been about to say.**

"**You saw Shane's dad hit him," she said. "Right?"**

"**I don't want to make him keep secrets from his dad. Not now."**

**Footsteps pounding up the stairs, then slowing when they hit the hallway. Michael touched his finger to his lips and eased out from Eve's frantic grip. He pressed his lips silently to hers.**

"**Hide!" Claire whispered. He nodded and opened the closet, rolled his eyes at the mess inside, and forced his way in. Burying himself in piles of clothes, Claire hoped. Miranda had been trapped in that closet after trying to knife Eve, before the house had caught fire; she'd really done a job of messing things up. Eve was going to be furious." **

We finished this part of the chapter and all the food so Claire and Eve got back up and started making Dinner and Carrie was asking Shane questions and Shane just got up from his seat and up the stairs, Carrie got up and went after him and Claire stopped her. "Don't worry baby I'll talk to daddy." She said and went up the stairs and I heard her knocking on a door. It opened and I heard them talking and the words "It's not your fault". They came back down Shane seemed out of it so Claire got the book as Eve came in with the food and Claire started reading again.

"**Both girls jumped at a hard blow on the door. Eve hastily unlocked the door and stepped back as it flew open, and Shane charged through.**

"**How?" He was breathing hard, and he had a crowbar in his hand. He'd have broken through the locks, Claire realized, if he'd had to. She came toward him slowly, trying to figure out what he was feeling, and he dropped the crowbar and wrapped his arms around her, lifting her up off the ground. His face was buried in the crook of her neck, and the warm, fast pump of his breath on her skin made her shiver in raw delight. "Oh Christ, Claire. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."**

"**Not your fault," Eve said. She held out the field hockey stick. "Look! I hit him. Um, twice.**

**Good." Shane kissed Claire's cheek and let her slide back down to the floor, but he kept hold of her arms. His eyes, bright under the bruises and swelling, surveyed her carefully. "He didn't hurt you? Either of you?"**

"**I hit him!" Eve repeated brightly, and brandished the stick again for emphasis. "So, no, he didn't hurt us. We hurt him. You know, all alone. Without any help. Um, so where's your dad? He charges to the rescue pretty slow."**

**Shane closed the door and locked it again as the biker in the hall groaned and rolled over on his side. He didn't answer, which was answer enough. Shane's dad needed his bikers more than he needed Eve or Claire. They were expendable. Worse, they'd probably just become rewards.**

"**We can't stay here," Eve said. "It isn't safe. You know that."**

_**The end**_


	22. Dinner date

_**Book: Dead Girls Dance Chapter three**_

_**Chapter twenty-one **_

_**Eve's pov: **_

I walked into the living room to see Shane looking at the floor I wondered what had put him such a mood but I wasn't going to ask I just put the food on the coffee table Claire started to read the rest of the chapter.

"_**Both girls jumped at a hard blow on the door. Eve hastily unlocked the door and stepped back as it flew open, and Shane charged through.**_

"_**How?" He was breathing hard, and he had a crowbar in his hand." **_

"Least I now know how you guys did it Mickey did it." Shane said he still seemed out of it, Claire nodded to Carrie she got up and went over to Shane she hugged him, then Claire continued reading the book.

"_**He'd have broken through the locks, Claire realized, if he'd had to. She came toward him slowly, trying to figure out what he was feeling, and he dropped the crowbar and wrapped his arms around her, lifting her up off the ground. His face was buried in the crook of her neck, and the warm, fast pump of his breath on her skin made her shiver in raw delight. "Oh Christ, Claire. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."**_

"_**Not your fault," Eve said. She held out the field hockey stick. "Look! I hit him. Um, twice."**_

"Do you know how strange you sounded Eve?" Claire told me I just shrugged.

"Come on Eve it did sound kind of the way you said," Michael said both Carrie and Shane agreed on this.

"What are you doing just ganging up on me?" I said they all laughed then I laughed I realised I had sounded weird when Shane had come into the room I guess it was because of the boyfriend coming back to life part I guess. Claire then continued reading the book after we had stopped laughing about my idiotic behaviour.

"_**Good. Shane kissed Claire's cheek and let her slide back down to the floor,"**_

"That really sounds weird you know." I said to them.

"We know that!" they all shouted at me together which was just weird.

"_**But he kept hold of her arms. His eyes, bright under the bruises and swelling, surveyed her carefully. "He didn't hurt you? Either of you?"**_

"_**I hit him!" Eve repeated brightly, and brandished the stick again for emphasis. "So, no, he didn't hurt us. We hurt him. You know, all alone. Without any help. Um, so where's your dad? He charges to the rescue pretty slow."**_

_**Shane closed the door and locked it again as the biker in the hall groaned and rolled over on his side. He didn't answer, which was answer enough. Shane's dad needed his bikers more than he needed Eve or Claire. They were expendable. Worse, they'd probably just become rewards."**_

"I'd of protected you two from that I promise you guys that." Shane said we all looked at him like he was mad of course he would have I had no doubt he would have.

"Shane don't beat yourself up because of what I was thinking about then I know if it had come to something like that it would be us fighting alongside you we are weird ass family remember." Claire said to Shane she kissed him on the lips that seemed to put a small secret smile to his lips, she then started reading the book again.

"_**We can't stay here," Eve said. "It isn't safe. You know that."**_

_**Shane nodded, but he looked bleak." I can't come with you." **_

_**"Yes, you can! Shane" **_

_**"He's my dad, Eve. He's all I've got."**_

_**Eve snorted." Yeah, well, what you've got I'd give back."**_

"Sorry about what I said Shane I didn't mean it you know I care about you." Eve said.

"Yeah I know sorry about what I said to you I shouldn't have said that"

"Okay if we're all going to apologies then I'm sorry for something." that was Michael. Then Claire continued reading the book.

_**"Sure, you just walked away from your folks." **_

_**"Hey!"**_

_**"Didn't even care what happened to them."**_

_**"They didn't care what happened to me! "Eve almost shouted it. Suddenly, the hockey stick in her hands wasn't so much for display. "Leave my family out of this, Shane you don't have a clue. Not a clue."**_

_**"I've met your brother," Shane shot back.**_

_**They both went quiet. Dangerously quiet. Claire cleared her throat. "Brother?"**_

_**"Leave it alone, Claire," Eve said. She sounded dead calm, not at all like herself." You really don't want to get into it."**_

"I really hate my brother sometimes but really he still blames me for what happened to him I had to he was getting too dangerous." I said to no one in particular Michael came over to me then hugged me Claire didn't know if she should read so I nodded my head she understood then started reading again.

_**"Bones in every family closet in Morganville," Shane said. "Yours rattle pretty loud, Eve. So don't judge me." **_

_**"Here's a thought: why don't you get the hell out of my room, you asshole!"**_

_**Shane picked up his crowbar, opened the door, and stepped outside. He reached down and hauled the biker to his feet, and shoved him toward the stairs. The biker went, still groaning and weaving.**_

_**Claire peeked through the gap in the door until she was sure they were gone, then nodded to Eve, who dumped the hockey stick and opened the closet door." Oh, crap," she sighed. "I hope nothings torn in there. It is not easy to get clothes in this town. Michael?"**_

_**Claire looked over her shoulder. A pile of black and red netting stirred, and Michaels blond head appeared. He sat up, brushing off Goth, and silently held up a pair of black lace panties. Thongs."**_

"Auntie Eve that's not very nice to hear about." Carrie said I started blushing Claire and Michael laughed at this then I saw Shane was smiling at this.

_**"Hey!" Eve yelped, and grabbed them from his fingers. "Personal! And laundry!"**_

_**Michael just smiled. For a guy who'd been stabbed, hacked up, and buried less than twenty-four hours ago, he looked remarkably composed. "I'm not even going to ask what you wore them with," he said. "It's more fun to imagine."**_

_**Eve snorted and gave him a hand up." Shane's taken our new boyfriend downstairs. What now? We can't exactly shimmy down a drainpipe."**_

_**"Not in fish nets, you can't," he agreed, straight-faced." Get changed. The less attention you attract from these guys, the better." **_

_**Eve grabbed a pair of blue jeans from the floor of the closet, and a baby-doll T that must have been a gift; it was aqua blue, with a sparkle rainbow over the chest. Very not Eve." **_

"My mom got me that she thought I'd stop being Goth and turn into some Barbie wannabe," I said Claire was nodding her head she had a lot of experience in having mothers also now being one.

"Yeah I know what you mean I had a mother in 1870 around Victorian times she was the worst she was a hooker she was bad she expected me to meet a rich man but I met the most amazing guy he was poor but it didn't matter." Claire said Shane looked at her she looked back she kissed him then whispered something in his ear that Carrie gagged at so did Michael it was wrong being the only human in this house. Claire continued reading the book,

"_**She glared at Michael and tapped her foot.**_

_**"What?" he asked.**_

_**"Gentlemen turn around. Or so I've heard."**_

_**He faced the corner. Eve stripped off her spider web-lace shirt and the red top beneath, and stepped out of the red and black tartan skirt. The fish nets were garters totally sexy." Not a word," she warned Claire, and rolled them down. She didn't take her eyes off of Michael. There was red burning hot in her cheeks.**_

_**Dressing took thirty seconds, and then Eve grabbed up the scattered clothes, the garter belt, and the fish nets, and stuffed them into the closet before saying," Okay, you can turn around."**_

_**Michael did, leaning against the wall with his arms folded. He was smiling slightly, eyes half-closed.**_

_**"What?" Eve demanded. She was still blushing." Don't I look stupid enough now?"**_

_**"You look great," he said, and crossed to kiss her lightly on the lips." Go wash your face."**_

"I felt ridiculous I hated wearing that top," I said they all looked at me.

"_**Eve went to the bathroom and shut the door. Claire said, "You've got some kind of a plan, right? Because we don't. Well, Shane thinks we should let his dad do whatever, and run, but Eve doesn't think it's a good idea."**_

_**"Its suicide," Michael said flatly. "Shane's dad is an idiot, and he's going to get Shane killed. You, too."**_

_**"But you have got a plan."**_

_**"Yeah," Michael said." I have a plan."**_

"I always have a plan that will work," Michael said proudly which was just stupid.

"Sorry Michael but my plans always work Army officer in world war 2 here," Claire said.

"_**When Eve came back from the bathroom, Michael put his finger to his lips again, unlocked the door, and walked them across the hall. He reached behind the picture frame and pushed the hidden button, and the panelling creaked open to reveal one of the secret rooms of the Glass House. Amelie's room, Claire remembered. The one the vampire liked the best, probably because there were no windows and the only exit was from a concealed button. How weird was it to be living in a house built and, really, owned by a vampire?**_

_**"Inside," Michael whispered. "Eve. Cell phone?"**_

"What's the number one rule in Morganville Eve?" Shane asked me I looked at the floor shamed with myself.

"Always keep your phone on you fully charged." I said I looked up to Claire laughing she seemed to think this was funny.

"_**She patted her pockets, held up a finger, and dashed back to her room. She came back holding it up. Michael hustled them up the narrow staircase, and the door hissed shut behind them. No knob on this side, either.**_

"_**Eve what is the **_

_**Upstairs, the room was just as Claire had last seen it elegant Victorian slender, a little dusty. This room, like all of the house, seemed to have a sense of something present in it, something just out of sight. Ghosts, she thought. But Michael seemed to be the only ghost, and he was as normal as could be.**_

_**Then again, the house was alive, kind of, and it was keeping Michael alive, too. So maybe not so normal.**_

_**"Phone," Michael said, and held out his hand as he sat down on the couch. Eve handed it over, frowning.**_

_**"Just who are you planning to call?" she asked." Ghostbusters? It's not like we have a lot of options."**_

_**Michael grinned at her and pressed three keys, then activated the call. The response was nearly immediate. "Hello, 911? This is Michael Glass, 716 Lot Street. I have intruders in my house. No, I don't know who they are, but there are at least three of them."**_

_**Eve's mouth flopped open in surprise, and Claire blinked, too. Calling the police seemed so normal. And so wrong."**_

"So you were the one to phone the cops on my dad thank you very much you know he blamed me for that also if Claire hadn't stopped him I'd be in the hospital." Shane said to Michael but he didn't look upset more relieved.

"Sorry man but I didn't want you to get hurt I had to also protect the girls," Michael replied they did their fist bump they always do and Claire read on.

_**"You might want to tell the officers that this house and its occupants are under the Founders Protection," he said. "They can verify that, I guess."**_

_**He smiled and hung up a moment later, handed the phone back, and looked very smug. **_

_**"And Shane?" Claire asked. "What about Shane?"**_

"Glad someone remembered me," Shane said Claire smiled Me and Michael both laughed at this no one could forget smart mouthed Collins.

"_**Michael's self-assurance faded. "He's making his own choices," he said." He'd want me to look out for the two of you first. And the only way I can do that is to get these guys out of my house. I can't protect you twenty-four/seven in the daytime, you're vulnerable. And I'm not going to float around and watch while you get" He didn't finish, but Claire and Eve knew where that was going. They both nodded. "Once they're out of the house, I can keep them from coming back, unless Shane lets them in. Or one of you, though I can't see that happening."**_

_**More headshakes, this time more violent. Michael kissed Eves forehead with obvious affection, and ruffled Claire's hair." Then this is the best way," he said." It'll shake them up, anyway."**_

_**"I'm sorry," Eve said in a small voice." I didn't think I'm so used to thinking of the cops as enemies, and besides, they were just trying to kill us. Right?"**_

_**"Things change. We have to adapt."**_

_**Michael was pretty much the king of that, Claire thought. He'd gone from a serious musician with his whole focus on making a name for himself, to a part-time ghost trapped in a house, to a part-time ghost trapped in a house forced to take in roommates to make the bills. And now he was trying to save their lives, and he still couldn't escape himself.**_

_**Michael was just so responsible. Claire couldn't even imagine how someone got that way. Maturity, she guessed, but that was a lot like a road through fog to her. She had no idea how she was supposed to get there. Then again, she supposed nobody really did know, and you just stumbled through it.**_

_**They waited.**_

_**After about five minutes there was a wail of sirens in the distance very faint, because the room was well soundproofed. That meant the sirens were close. Maybe even by the house already. Claire rose and pressed the button concealed in the lions-head arm of the couch, and the sirens immediately increased in volume as the secret door opened. She hurried down the steps and peered out. No one in the hallway, but from downstairs she heard angry shouting, and then the sound of a door banging open. Motorcycle engines roaring, tires squealing.**_

_**"They're going," she yelled up, and pelted out into the hallway, down the stairs, breathless to find Shane.**_

_**Shane was up against the wall, and his father was holding him by the throat. Outside, police sirens suddenly cut off.**_

_**"Traitor," Shane's dad said. He had a knife in his hand." You're a traitor. You're dead to me."**_

_**Claire skidded to a stop, found her voice, and said, "Sir, you'd better get out of here unless you want to end up talking to the vampires."**_

_**Shane's father turned his face toward her, and his expression was twisted with fury." You little bitch, he said. Turning my son against me."**_

_**"No" Shane grabbed at his father's hand, trying to pry it free." Don't" Claire backed up. For a second, neither Shane nor his dad moved, and then Shane's father let him go, and raced for the kitchen door. Shane dropped to his knees, choking, and Claire went to him**_

_**Just as the front door banged open, splintering around the lock, and the police charged in.**_

_**"Oh man," Shane whispered, that sucks." We just fixed that door."**_

_**Claire clung to him, terrified, as the police swarmed through the house."**_

"So that's the end of that chapter why don't we go out somewhere I feel like eating out and we can invite that new family or maybe since they invited us to theirs we could eat there?" Claire said we agreed then dressed up to meet the new family next door this was going to be odd.

We made it just before 7 o'clock they were already getting the food down on the table they welcomed us warmly, they talked about when they had lived in New York City their daughter was really shy around us but still seemed nice. They knew about the Vampires Amelie had thought it be best for their daughter that must have been why she was shy around Michael the most.

We left soon after 10 o'clock because Carrie was getting tired Shane carried her to the house we said our goodbyes we went straight to bed I slept great till some loud bang woke me up at 3 in the morning.

_**The end**_


	23. Author note

**Sorry I haven't updated any of my stories in so long but I will be I haven't had many ideas for my fan fictions but I will be now please review my work hope you like my other stories. **


	24. Gathering

_**Book: Dead Girls Dance Chapter five**_

_**Chapter twenty-two **_

_**Michael's pov: **_

We were all woken up by a loud bag from downstairs at the door we all walked out getting for whatever it was knocking on the door, Claire walked forward opening the door to her brothers and sisters they engulfed her in a hug even her mother was there they told us they'd moved away from their father so they came here they all had houses ready but wanted to tell Claire that they were staying this time they met Carrie the newest addition to the family they hugged once more then left for their homes they were coming back in the morning to finish reading the book which was going to be fun. We went back upstairs to bed I fell asleep once my head hit the pillow along with Eve.

The next morning Carrie woke me up saying that Eve had asked her to, she ran back out the room with me following her to the kitchen to Shane sitting eating his breakfast before he went to work, I had to hurry too to get to work. But I soon got a call from my boos that I had as long as I liked off because the founder had said I had other more important things to do the same thing happened to Shane but he was told by the founder to get someone to work as the boss till we finished the books this was going to be a long time I could feel it the book we were reading now was taking long enough. I looked at Claire she was on the phone with the dean to the university she was already smart so she was getting her degree, I got the book waiting for her family to come over before I could sit down on my chair they were coming in the living room with Carrie, Eve and Shane following them. Claire was getting drinks for everyone as she was in a good mood because she didn't have to bother with Monica anymore also she could get a job well a better job than working with Myrnin. We all looked around I was about to read the book when a portal opened to Amelie, Oliver and Myrnin I looked at them they sit around the room all looking at me. "Sorry Mike but they asked to listen as well sorry I forgot to tell you." Claire said I smiled then nodded my head then started reading the chapter.

"**Shane wasn't talking to the cops. Not about his dad, and not about anything. He just sat like a lump, eyes down, and refused to answer any questions from the human patrol officers;" **

Come you really think I would talk to them idiots because they'll just throw me in jail." Shane said I knew he wanted to swear but was careful because of Carrie he had changed a lot because of her.

"I have to agree with you Mr Collins you did the right thing." That came from no other than Amelie we all looked at her as if she was insane that seemed to be true if she had said that but we didn't say anything I continued to read the book so no one could say anything to Amelie.

"**Claire didn't know what to say or, more importantly, what not to and stammered out a lot of I don't know and I was in my room sort of answers. Eve more self-possessed than Claire had ever seen her stepped in to say that she'd heard the intruder's downstairs breaking things and she'd pulled Claire into her room and locked the door for protection. It sounded good. Claire supported it with a lot of nodding." **

Everyone stared at Claire she looked at the floor like she was a shamed of her old self she had changed but it was actually the real her, her parents had raised her not to have fear but it wasn't her fault. "Sorry Mama I was scared back then," She apologised her mother looked at her then walked over to her hugging her.

"You did what you had to do I will never think any less of you my special little girl," She whispered to her.

"**Is that so?" A new voice, from behind the cops, and they parted ranks to admit two strangers. Detectives, it looked like, in sport jackets and slacks. One was a woman, frost pale, with eyes like mirrors.**

**The other one was a tall man with grey close-cropped hair.**

**They were wearing gold badges on their belts. So Detectives.**

**Vampire detectives.**

**Eve had gone very still, hands folded in her lap. She looked carefully friendly. "Yes, ma'am," she said. "That's what happened."**

"I really hated them they took me to see you when you were going to get locked in that cage I hated the idea of losing you." Claire said to Shane he hugged her as well as Carrie and her mother.

"**And you have no idea who these mysterious intruders might have been," said the male vamp. He looked scary. Cold and hard and scary. "Never saw them before.**

**We didn't see them at all, sir."**

"**Because you were locked in your room," He smiled, and flashed fang. Clear warning.**

"**I can smell fear. You give it off like the stench of your sweat. Delicious."**

**Claire fought back an urge to whimper. The human cops had backed up a step; one or two looked uncomfortable, but they weren't about to interfere with whatever was about to happen. **

**Which was nothing, right? There were rules and stuff. And they were the victims!**

**Then again, she didn't suppose the vamps cared all that much for victims.**

"**Leave them alone," Shane said.**

"**It speaks!" The woman said, and laughed. **

"Don't you think staking that bitch would do the world of good?" Shane stated I had to agree but I wasn't going to say anything because Amelie was giving Shane the death glare.

"**She sank down into a crouch, elegant and perfectly balanced, and tried to peer into Shanes face. A knight-errant, defending the helpless. Charming. She had an old-world accent, sort of like blurred German. "Do you not trust us, little knight? Are we not your friends?"**

"Yeah like hell I'd be friends with her," Shane snarled, Claire looked at him like a mother telling of his son well she was old enough for it. He looked at the floor whispering a sorry.

"Like I care just watch Carrie's ears will you," she told Shane. I had to say that seemed fair I could see he wanted to say more about that vamp cop she really annoyed me.

"**That depends," Shane said, and looked right at her. "You take your orders from Oliver, or the Founder? Because if you touch us any of us you have to take it up with her. You know who I mean."**

**She lost her amused expression.**

**Her partner made a noise, halfway between a bark of laughter and a growl. "Careful, Gretchen, he snaps. Just like a half-grown puppy. Boy, you don't know what you're saying. The Founders mark is on the house, yes, but I see no bands on your wrists. Don't be stupid and make bold claims you can't back up."**

"**Bite me, Dracula," Shane snapped.**

**Gretchen laughed. "A wolf pup," she said. "Oh, I like him, Hans. May I have him, since he's a stray?"**

**One of the uniformed cops cleared his throat. "Ma'am? Sorry, but I can't allow that. You want to file the paperwork; I'll see what I can do, but…"**

**Gretchen made a frustrated noise and came back to her feet. "Paperwork. Ah. In the old days we would have run him down like a deer for insolence."**

"**In the old days, Gretchen, we were starving," Hans said. "Remember? The winters in Bavaria? Let him howl." He shrugged and gave Eve and Claire a smile that looked a little less terrifying than before. "Sorry. Gretchen gets carried away."**

"**Now, you're sure none of you knew these intruders? Morganville's not that big a town. We're all pretty close-knit, especially the human community."**

"**Strangers," Eve said. "I think they might have been strangers. Maybe just****passing through."**

"**Passing through," Hans repeated. "We don't get a lot of casual visitors. Even biker gangs." He studied them each in turn, and while his eyes were on her Claire felt as if she were being x-rayed. Surely he couldn't really see her thoughts, right?"**

"Course they can't little Cruz but they can see in your body language that if you were lying they would be able to see it, that's how most people know that if you are old enough to see the signs." Myrnin explained to Claire I forgot she had a different name but she said it would be easier for us to just call her Claire because that was the name she had at the time we had known her.

"Myrnin I know all that but Claire didn't you forget I'm older I can see that like the fact that Chelsea is hiding something from us because of her body language indicating to her fidgeting." Claire said she was looking at her twin sister Chelsea she seemed to be sweating too now that I looked closely, "Anything you want to tell us Chelsea?" Claire asked her she shook her head.

"Not now maybe later sis," She whispered to Claire, she nodded then I continued to read the book.

"**Hans finished with his gaze on Shane, fixed and dark. "Your name."**

"**Shane," he said. "Shane Collins."**

"**You left Morganville with your family a few years ago, yes? What brought you back?"**

"**My friend Michael needed a roommate." Shane's eyes flickered, and Claire realized that he just made a mistake. A big one.**

"**Michael Glass. Ah, yes, the mysterious Michael. Never around when anyone comes calling during the day, but always present at night. Tell me, is Michael a vampire?"**

"**Wouldn't you know?" Shane shot back. "Last I heard, nobody had made a new vampire in fifty years or more."**

"**True." Hans nodded. "Yet it's curious, isn't it? That your friend seems so hard to keep around?"**

**They knew. They knew something, anyway; Claire supposed Oliver would have no reason to keep secrets, especially Michael's secrets."**

"I'm quite hurt there Claire that you would think that I would do such a thing really that hurts." Oliver complained I didn't really see the point in why he was even here. I continued to read not really caring for why.

"**He probably blabbed it to all of his minions that Michael was a ghost, caught between worlds not quite vampire, not quite human, not quite anything.**

"**Its night," Gretchen pointed out. "So where is he? Your friend?"**

**Shane swallowed, and it was hard to miss the wave of misery that went through him. "He's around."**

"**Around where, exactly?"**

**Claire exchanged a look of dread with Eve. Shane still thought Michael was dead, buried in the backyard and Michael had been pretty firm on the idea that Shane shouldn't know."**

"I still can't believe you didn't tell me before the cops got here, you could have told me make me less of an idiot." Shane stated he seemed annoyed at that but it was to keep him from getting beaten by his dad.

"**I don't know," Shane said. The tips of his ears were turning red.**

**Hans the Detective smiled slowly. "You don't know much, son. And yet you look like you're not completely stupid, so how exactly does that work? Did you hide in the room with the girls?" He leaned on the last word, and his vampire partner laughed.**

**Shane got up. There was something insane in his eyes, and Claire felt her heart stop beating because this was bad, very bad, and Shane was going to do something horribly unwise, and there was no way they could stop him.**

"**You're looking for me?"**

**They all turned.**

**Michael was standing at the top of the stairs. He was pulling on a plain black T-shirt with blue jeans, and he looked like he just rolled out of bed. His feet, Claire saw, were bare as usual.**

**Shane sat down. Fast and hard. Michael took his time coming down the stairs, making sure they were all focused on him instead of Shane, to give Shane time to get through what he was feeling which was, Claire thought, a lot to pack into less than thirty seconds. Relief, of course, which brought a shed of tears to his eyes. And then, predictably, he got pissed, because, well, he was a guy, he was Shane, and that was how he handled being scared.**

**So, really, by the time Michael padded down the last step to the wooden floor and crossed over to the couch through the circle of police, things were pretty much just as they'd been, except that Shane wasn't about to push the button on his nuclear temper.**

"**Hey," Michael said to him. Shane moved over on the couch to make room. Guy room, which left plenty of empty space. "What's up?"**

**Shane looked at him like he might be crazy, not just nearly dead part-time. "Cops, man."**

"**Yeah, man, I can see that. How come?"**

"**You're telling me you actually slept through all that? Dude, you need to see a doctor or something. Maybe you have a disease."**

"**Hey, I need the sleep. Lisa, you know." Michael grinned. They were good at this, Claire realized good at playing normal,"**

"Hell yeah we still have to play that game its lots of fun." Shane and I said at the same time both Eve and Claire slapped us on the arm for our 'bad behaviour' that was true we were survivors that was everything to s that was the way we played it with the cops.

"**Even if there wasn't a normal thing in the world about their situation. So what happened?"**

"**You weren't aware of intruders in your home?" Asked Gretchen, who'd been watching the exchange and the correspondingly shrinking chance of bloodshed with disappointment. "The others described it as quite loud."**

"**He can sleep through World War Three," Shane said. "I told you, it's some kind of sickness or something."**

"**I thought you said you didn't know where he was," Hans said. "Wasn't he in his room?"**

**Shane shrugged. "I'm not his keeper."**

"**Ah," Gretchen said, and smiled. "That is where you are wrong, little knight. You are all your brothers' keepers here in Morganville, and you can all suffer for their crimes. Which you should know and remember."**

**Hans looked bored now. "Sergeant," he said, and the most senior uniformed cop stepped out of the ranks. "I leave this in your hands. If you find anything out of the ordinary, let us know."**

**Just like that, the vamps were gone. They moved fast, and silently; they didn't seem to want to blend in much, Claire thought, and tried not to tremble. She sank down on the couch beside Shane, nearly crawling into his lap."**

"I bet Shane would have loved that very much" This came from Eve she got a few glares from Claire's family but she brushed it off with a nervous laugh.

"**Eve crowded in between the two boys.**

"**Right." The sergeant didn't look happy with having the whole thing dumped in his lap again, **

**But he also looked resigned. Couldn't be the easiest thing, Claire thought, having vamps for bosses.**

**They didn't seem to have a long attention span. "Glass, right? Occupation?"**

"**Musician, sir," Michael said.**

"**Play around town, do you?"**

"**I'm rehearsing for some upcoming gigs."**

**The cop nodded and flipped pages in a black leather book. He ran a thick finger down a list, frowned, and said, "You're behind on your donations, Glass. About a month."**

**Michael threw a lightning-fast glance at Shane. "Sorry, sir. I'll get out there tomorrow."**

"**Better or you know what happens." The cop ran down the roster. "You. Collins. You still unemployed?" He gave him a stare. A long one. Shane shrugged, looking Claire thoughts dumb as possible.**

"Not that hard then" this came from Caleb one of Claire's older brothers Claire walked over smacking him over the head he apologised to Shane then I started reading again.

"**Try harder."**

"**Common Grounds," Eve volunteered before he could start in on her. "Eve Rosser, sir, thank you." She was vibrating all over she was so nervous which was funny; when she'd been on her own, she'd been cool and calm. She had hold of both Michaels and Shane's hands. "Although, um, I'm thinking of making a change."**

**The cop seemed bored now. "Yeah, okay. You, the kid. Name?"**

**Claire, she said faintly." Um Danvers. I'm a student."**

**He looked at her again, and kept looking. "Shouldn't you be in the dorm?"**

"**I have permission to live off campus." She didn't say from whom, because it was primarily herself."**

"Of course you'd disobey the rules little wolf." Snarled Oliver Claire looked at him then at the floor before bearing her teeth at him making his flinch.

"**He watched her for another few seconds, then shrugged. "You live off campus, you follow the town rules. Your friends here'll tell you what they are. Watch on campus about how much you pass along we got enough problems without panicking students. And were real good at finding blabber mouths."**

**She nodded.**

**That wasn't the end of it, but it was the end of her discussions with them; the police poked around a little, took some pictures, and left the house a few minutes later without another word to any of them.**

**For a good ten seconds after the police closed the front door or closed it as much as was possible with a busted lock there was silence, and then Shane turned to Michael and said, "You fucking bastard." Claire swallowed hard at the tight fury in his voice."**

"Sorry I scared you back then and all the other times," Shane apologised to Claire she hugged him kissing him on the cheek.

"It's the past now baby its over," She replied.

"**You want to take this outside?" Michael asked. **

**He sounded neutral, almost calm. His eyes were anything but.**

"**What, you can leave the house now?"**

"**No, I meant another room, Shane."**

"**Hey", Eve said, "don't"**

"**Shut up, Eve! "Shane snapped." **I finished the chapter by closing the book it was still early morning I looked around the room throwing the book at anyone who catched it. That person happened to be Oliver.

_**The end**_


	25. Past or Future ?

_**Book: Dead Girls Dance Chapter five**_

_**Chapter twenty-two **_

_**Michael's pov: **_

We were all woken up by a loud bag from downstairs at the door we all walked out getting for whatever it was knocking on the door, Claire walked forward opening the door to her brothers and sisters they engulfed her in a hug even her mother was there they told us they'd moved away from their father so they came here they all had houses ready but wanted to tell Claire that they were staying this time they met Carrie the newest addition to the family they hugged once more then left for their homes they were coming back in the morning to finish reading the book which was going to be fun. We went back upstairs to bed I fell asleep once my head hit the pillow along with Eve.

The next morning Carrie woke me up saying that Eve had asked her to, she ran back out the room with me following her to the kitchen to Shane sitting eating his breakfast before he went to work, I had to hurry too to get to work. But I soon got a call from my boos that I had as long as I liked off because the founder had said I had other more important things to do the same thing happened to Shane but he was told by the founder to get someone to work as the boss till we finished the books this was going to be a long time I could feel it the book we were reading now was taking long enough. I looked at Claire she was on the phone with the dean to the university she was already smart so she was getting her degree, I got the book waiting for her family to come over before I could sit down on my chair they were coming in the living room with Carrie, Eve and Shane following them. Claire was getting drinks for everyone as she was in a good mood because she didn't have to bother with Monica anymore also she could get a job well a better job than working with Myrnin. We all looked around I was about to read the book when a portal opened to Amelie, Oliver and Myrnin I looked at them they sit around the room all looking at me. "Sorry Mike but they asked to listen as well sorry I forgot to tell you." Claire said I smiled then nodded my head then started reading the chapter.

"**Shane wasn't talking to the cops. Not about his dad, and not about anything. He just sat like a lump, eyes down, and refused to answer any questions from the human patrol officers;" **

Come you really think I would talk to them idiots because they'll just throw me in jail." Shane said I knew he wanted to swear but was careful because of Carrie he had changed a lot because of her.

"I have to agree with you Mr Collins you did the right thing." That came from no other than Amelie we all looked at her as if she was insane that seemed to be true if she had said that but we didn't say anything I continued to read the book so no one could say anything to Amelie.

"**Claire didn't know what to say or, more importantly, what not to and stammered out a lot of I don't know and I was in my room sort of answers. Eve more self-possessed than Claire had ever seen her stepped in to say that she'd heard the intruder's downstairs breaking things and she'd pulled Claire into her room and locked the door for protection. It sounded good. Claire supported it with a lot of nodding." **

Everyone stared at Claire she looked at the floor like she was a shamed of her old self she had changed but it was actually the real her, her parents had raised her not to have fear but it wasn't her fault. "Sorry Mama I was scared back then," She apologised her mother looked at her then walked over to her hugging her.

"You did what you had to do I will never think any less of you my special little girl," She whispered to her.

"**Is that so?" A new voice, from behind the cops, and they parted ranks to admit two strangers. Detectives, it looked like, in sport jackets and slacks. One was a woman, frost pale, with eyes like mirrors.**

**The other one was a tall man with grey close-cropped hair.**

**They were wearing gold badges on their belts. So Detectives.**

**Vampire detectives.**

**Eve had gone very still, hands folded in her lap. She looked carefully friendly. "Yes, ma'am," she said. "That's what happened."**

"I really hated them they took me to see you when you were going to get locked in that cage I hated the idea of losing you." Claire said to Shane he hugged her as well as Carrie and her mother.

"**And you have no idea who these mysterious intruders might have been," said the male vamp. He looked scary. Cold and hard and scary. "Never saw them before.**

**We didn't see them at all, sir."**

"**Because you were locked in your room," He smiled, and flashed fang. Clear warning.**

"**I can smell fear. You give it off like the stench of your sweat. Delicious."**

**Claire fought back an urge to whimper. The human cops had backed up a step; one or two looked uncomfortable, but they weren't about to interfere with whatever was about to happen. **

**Which was nothing, right? There were rules and stuff. And they were the victims!**

**Then again, she didn't suppose the vamps cared all that much for victims.**

"**Leave them alone," Shane said.**

"**It speaks!" The woman said, and laughed. **

"Don't you think staking that bitch would do the world of good?" Shane stated I had to agree but I wasn't going to say anything because Amelie was giving Shane the death glare.

"**She sank down into a crouch, elegant and perfectly balanced, and tried to peer into Shanes face. A knight-errant, defending the helpless. Charming. She had an old-world accent, sort of like blurred German. "Do you not trust us, little knight? Are we not your friends?"**

"Yeah like hell I'd be friends with her," Shane snarled, Claire looked at him like a mother telling of his son well she was old enough for it. He looked at the floor whispering a sorry.

"Like I care just watch Carrie's ears will you," she told Shane. I had to say that seemed fair I could see he wanted to say more about that vamp cop she really annoyed me.

"**That depends," Shane said, and looked right at her. "You take your orders from Oliver, or the Founder? Because if you touch us any of us you have to take it up with her. You know who I mean."**

**She lost her amused expression.**

**Her partner made a noise, halfway between a bark of laughter and a growl. "Careful, Gretchen, he snaps. Just like a half-grown puppy. Boy, you don't know what you're saying. The Founders mark is on the house, yes, but I see no bands on your wrists. Don't be stupid and make bold claims you can't back up."**

"**Bite me, Dracula," Shane snapped.**

**Gretchen laughed. "A wolf pup," she said. "Oh, I like him, Hans. May I have him, since he's a stray?"**

**One of the uniformed cops cleared his throat. "Ma'am? Sorry, but I can't allow that. You want to file the paperwork; I'll see what I can do, but…"**

**Gretchen made a frustrated noise and came back to her feet. "Paperwork. Ah. In the old days we would have run him down like a deer for insolence."**

"**In the old days, Gretchen, we were starving," Hans said. "Remember? The winters in Bavaria? Let him howl." He shrugged and gave Eve and Claire a smile that looked a little less terrifying than before. "Sorry. Gretchen gets carried away."**

"**Now, you're sure none of you knew these intruders? Morganville's not that big a town. We're all pretty close-knit, especially the human community."**

"**Strangers," Eve said. "I think they might have been strangers. Maybe just****passing through."**

"**Passing through," Hans repeated. "We don't get a lot of casual visitors. Even biker gangs." He studied them each in turn, and while his eyes were on her Claire felt as if she were being x-rayed. Surely he couldn't really see her thoughts, right?"**

"Course they can't little Cruz but they can see in your body language that if you were lying they would be able to see it, that's how most people know that if you are old enough to see the signs." Myrnin explained to Claire I forgot she had a different name but she said it would be easier for us to just call her Claire because that was the name she had at the time we had known her.

"Myrnin I know all that but Claire didn't you forget I'm older I can see that like the fact that Chelsea is hiding something from us because of her body language indicating to her fidgeting." Claire said she was looking at her twin sister Chelsea she seemed to be sweating too now that I looked closely, "Anything you want to tell us Chelsea?" Claire asked her she shook her head.

"Not now maybe later sis," She whispered to Claire, she nodded then I continued to read the book.

"**Hans finished with his gaze on Shane, fixed and dark. "Your name."**

"**Shane," he said. "Shane Collins."**

"**You left Morganville with your family a few years ago, yes? What brought you back?"**

"**My friend Michael needed a roommate." Shane's eyes flickered, and Claire realized that he just made a mistake. A big one.**

"**Michael Glass. Ah, yes, the mysterious Michael. Never around when anyone comes calling during the day, but always present at night. Tell me, is Michael a vampire?"**

"**Wouldn't you know?" Shane shot back. "Last I heard, nobody had made a new vampire in fifty years or more."**

"**True." Hans nodded. "Yet it's curious, isn't it? That your friend seems so hard to keep around?"**

**They knew. They knew something, anyway; Claire supposed Oliver would have no reason to keep secrets, especially Michael's secrets."**

"I'm quite hurt there Claire that you would think that I would do such a thing really that hurts." Oliver complained I didn't really see the point in why he was even here. I continued to read not really caring for why.

"**He probably blabbed it to all of his minions that Michael was a ghost, caught between worlds not quite vampire, not quite human, not quite anything.**

"**Its night," Gretchen pointed out. "So where is he? Your friend?"**

**Shane swallowed, and it was hard to miss the wave of misery that went through him. "He's around."**

"**Around where, exactly?"**

**Claire exchanged a look of dread with Eve. Shane still thought Michael was dead, buried in the backyard and Michael had been pretty firm on the idea that Shane shouldn't know."**

"I still can't believe you didn't tell me before the cops got here, you could have told me make me less of an idiot." Shane stated he seemed annoyed at that but it was to keep him from getting beaten by his dad.

"**I don't know," Shane said. The tips of his ears were turning red.**

**Hans the Detective smiled slowly. "You don't know much, son. And yet you look like you're not completely stupid, so how exactly does that work? Did you hide in the room with the girls?" He leaned on the last word, and his vampire partner laughed.**

**Shane got up. There was something insane in his eyes, and Claire felt her heart stop beating because this was bad, very bad, and Shane was going to do something horribly unwise, and there was no way they could stop him.**

"**You're looking for me?"**

**They all turned.**

**Michael was standing at the top of the stairs. He was pulling on a plain black T-shirt with blue jeans, and he looked like he just rolled out of bed. His feet, Claire saw, were bare as usual.**

**Shane sat down. Fast and hard. Michael took his time coming down the stairs, making sure they were all focused on him instead of Shane, to give Shane time to get through what he was feeling which was, Claire thought, a lot to pack into less than thirty seconds. Relief, of course, which brought a shed of tears to his eyes. And then, predictably, he got pissed, because, well, he was a guy, he was Shane, and that was how he handled being scared.**

**So, really, by the time Michael padded down the last step to the wooden floor and crossed over to the couch through the circle of police, things were pretty much just as they'd been, except that Shane wasn't about to push the button on his nuclear temper.**

"**Hey," Michael said to him. Shane moved over on the couch to make room. Guy room, which left plenty of empty space. "What's up?"**

**Shane looked at him like he might be crazy, not just nearly dead part-time. "Cops, man."**

"**Yeah, man, I can see that. How come?"**

"**You're telling me you actually slept through all that? Dude, you need to see a doctor or something. Maybe you have a disease."**

"**Hey, I need the sleep. Lisa, you know." Michael grinned. They were good at this, Claire realized good at playing normal,"**

"Hell yeah we still have to play that game its lots of fun." Shane and I said at the same time both Eve and Claire slapped us on the arm for our 'bad behaviour' that was true we were survivors that was everything to s that was the way we played it with the cops.

"**Even if there wasn't a normal thing in the world about their situation. So what happened?"**

"**You weren't aware of intruders in your home?" Asked Gretchen, who'd been watching the exchange and the correspondingly shrinking chance of bloodshed with disappointment. "The others described it as quite loud."**

"**He can sleep through World War Three," Shane said. "I told you, it's some kind of sickness or something."**

"**I thought you said you didn't know where he was," Hans said. "Wasn't he in his room?"**

**Shane shrugged. "I'm not his keeper."**

"**Ah," Gretchen said, and smiled. "That is where you are wrong, little knight. You are all your brothers' keepers here in Morganville, and you can all suffer for their crimes. Which you should know and remember."**

**Hans looked bored now. "Sergeant," he said, and the most senior uniformed cop stepped out of the ranks. "I leave this in your hands. If you find anything out of the ordinary, let us know."**

**Just like that, the vamps were gone. They moved fast, and silently; they didn't seem to want to blend in much, Claire thought, and tried not to tremble. She sank down on the couch beside Shane, nearly crawling into his lap."**

"I bet Shane would have loved that very much" This came from Eve she got a few glares from Claire's family but she brushed it off with a nervous laugh.

"**Eve crowded in between the two boys.**

"**Right." The sergeant didn't look happy with having the whole thing dumped in his lap again, **

**But he also looked resigned. Couldn't be the easiest thing, Claire thought, having vamps for bosses.**

**They didn't seem to have a long attention span. "Glass, right? Occupation?"**

"**Musician, sir," Michael said.**

"**Play around town, do you?"**

"**I'm rehearsing for some upcoming gigs."**

**The cop nodded and flipped pages in a black leather book. He ran a thick finger down a list, frowned, and said, "You're behind on your donations, Glass. About a month."**

**Michael threw a lightning-fast glance at Shane. "Sorry, sir. I'll get out there tomorrow."**

"**Better or you know what happens." The cop ran down the roster. "You. Collins. You still unemployed?" He gave him a stare. A long one. Shane shrugged, looking Claire thoughts dumb as possible.**

"Not that hard then" this came from Caleb one of Claire's older brothers Claire walked over smacking him over the head he apologised to Shane then I started reading again.

"**Try harder."**

"**Common Grounds," Eve volunteered before he could start in on her. "Eve Rosser, sir, thank you." She was vibrating all over she was so nervous which was funny; when she'd been on her own, she'd been cool and calm. She had hold of both Michaels and Shane's hands. "Although, um, I'm thinking of making a change."**

**The cop seemed bored now. "Yeah, okay. You, the kid. Name?"**

**Claire, she said faintly." Um Danvers. I'm a student."**

**He looked at her again, and kept looking. "Shouldn't you be in the dorm?"**

"**I have permission to live off campus." She didn't say from whom, because it was primarily herself."**

"Of course you'd disobey the rules little wolf." Snarled Oliver Claire looked at him then at the floor before bearing her teeth at him making his flinch.

"**He watched her for another few seconds, then shrugged. "You live off campus, you follow the town rules. Your friends here'll tell you what they are. Watch on campus about how much you pass along we got enough problems without panicking students. And were real good at finding blabber mouths."**

**She nodded.**

**That wasn't the end of it, but it was the end of her discussions with them; the police poked around a little, took some pictures, and left the house a few minutes later without another word to any of them.**

**For a good ten seconds after the police closed the front door or closed it as much as was possible with a busted lock there was silence, and then Shane turned to Michael and said, "You fucking bastard." Claire swallowed hard at the tight fury in his voice."**

"Sorry I scared you back then and all the other times," Shane apologised to Claire she hugged him kissing him on the cheek.

"It's the past now baby its over," She replied.

"**You want to take this outside?" Michael asked. **

**He sounded neutral, almost calm. His eyes were anything but.**

"**What, you can leave the house now?"**

"**No, I meant another room, Shane."**

"**Hey", Eve said, "don't"**

"**Shut up, Eve! "Shane snapped." **I finished the chapter by closing the book it was still early morning I looked around the room throwing the book at anyone who catched it. That person happened to be Oliver.

_**The end**_


	26. Worrying

_**Book: Dead Girls Dance Chapter seven:**_

_**Chapter twenty-four **_

_**Shane's pov: **_

I ran into the kitchen to see Claire on the floor I had her family and Carrie with me I raced to her with the others Eve was there too I saw blood I knew it was Claire's but what had happened I looked up there were three people I hadn't seen here before then it all clicked. "Alyssa, mom, dad?" I asked I was in shock this is what Claire had done she had risked her life to bring them back I saw her twin sister and brother by her using their magic to keep her alive I was scared at first of if she would live but I was happy to have my family back Eve came over to me hugging me.

Claire was taken upstairs to our room to rest for the day I started filling in my parents and Alyssa in what had happened after they had died they all seemed okay with this Alyssa got along with Carrie and seemed to like Claire too so did my mom and dad already knew her Amelie said she would find a house for them to live in. She also said that they should hear the stories we were reading now. Everyone was upset about Claire's actions her brother Cayden stayed with her as she rested. Carrie took the book she had been crying a lot about Claire she seemed sad but she still wanted to read the book I agreed to this as she sat with my mom. "**Claire couldn't believe how much had poured out of Shane all that grief and horror and bitterness and anger. He always seemed sort of, well, normal, and it was a shock to see all the emotional bloodshed and a shock to hear him talk so much, about things so personal. Shane wasn't a talker." **Carrie stopped reading looking at me she smiled her little broken smile just like Claire I smiled back at her she started reading again. **"She collected the dishes and did them alone, comforted by hot water and the fizz of soap on her hands; she cleaned up pots and pans and splashes of red sauce, and thought about Shane finding his mom dead in a bloody bathtub. I wasn't in a real good place, Shane had said. The master of understatement. Claire wasn't so sure that she'd ever have been able to smile again, laugh again, function again, if that had happened to her, especially after losing a sister and winning the Drunk-Asshole Lottery with Dad. How did he do it? How did he keep it together, and stay so brave?" **my dad looked at me with a sorry look on his face I nodded my head at him but I could tell he was better he had said sorry when he was a brain in a jar. **"She wanted to cry for him, but she was almost sure that had have been embarrassed, so she kept the misery inside, and scrubbed dishes clean. He doesn't deserve this. Why don't they all just leave him alone? Why does he have to be the one everybody beats on?**

**Maybe just because had shown he could take it, and make himself stronger for it.**

**The kitchen door swung open, and she jumped, expected Shane, but it was Michael. He walked over to the sink, ran some cold water in his hands, and splashed it over his face and the back of his neck.**

"**Bad night," Claire said.**

"**Tell me about it." He cut a sideways look toward her.**

"**Do you think he's right? About them, you know, killing his mother?"**

"**I think Shanes carrying around a load of guilt the size of Trump Tower." **My parents looked at me with sad faces I just smiled at them trying to tell them I was over all of it Claire had helped me through all of this. **"And I think it helps him to be angry." Michael shrugged. "I don't know. It's possible. But I don't think we can know one way or the other."**

**That felt sick, somehow. No wonder Shane was so reluctant to talk about it. She tried to imagine living with that kind of uncertainty, those memories, and failed.**

**She was glad she did." **I knew Claire had felt like that number of times she just didn't know it back then.

"**So," Michael said. "I've got about three hours until morning. We need to make some plans about what we're going to do, and what we're not going to do."**

**Claire nodded and set a plate aside to dry.**

"**First thing is, none of you leave the house," Michael said. "Got it? No school, no work. You stay indoors. I can't protect you if you go outside."**

"**We can't just hide!"**

"**We can for a while, and we will. Look, Shanes dad can't run around out there forever. It's a temporary problem. Someone's going to find him." The unspoken subject of what would happen to Shane's dad after he was caught was a whole other issue. As long as we don't do anything directly that ties us to whatever his dad does, were okay. Amelia's word is good for that.**

"**You're putting a lot of trust in…"**

"**A vampire, yeah, I know." Michael shrugged and leaned a hip against the counter, looking down on her. "What choices do we have?"**

"**Not too many,"**

"**I guess." Claire studied him more closely. He looked tired. "Michael? Are you okay?"**

**Now he looked surprised. "Sure. Shane's the one who's got issues. Not me."**

**No, Michael was all good. Killed, dismembered, buried, and reborn yeah, just another day in the life. Claire sighed. "Guys," she said mournfully. "Michael, I'll stay home today, but I really do have to go to school, you know. Really. Because her missing school was like a caffeine addict going without a daily jolt."**

"**Your education or your life, Claire. I'd rather you be alive and a little bit dumber."**

**She met his eyes squarely. "Well, I wouldn't. I'll stay home today. I don't promise about tomorrow."**

**He smiled, leaned forward, and put a warm sloppy kiss on her forehead." **

"So when did this crush on Claire happen Mike?" Eve joked Michael laughed shaking his head.

"I care about Claire like a sister that's all you're my wife I wouldn't have it any other way." Michael replied.

"**That's my girl," he said, and left. She sighed again, this time happily, and found herself grinning. Michael might be Eve's new main crush, but he was still available as an oh-my-God-how-cute-is-he thrill." **

"See she had the crush on me, but you won out still remember the fantasies she had of you." Michael said that made me laugh.

"Yeah good ones she still has them,"

"**Claire finished the dishes and went back to the living room. The TV was on, tuned to some forensics show, and Shane was slumped on the couch staring at it. No sign of Eve or Michael. Claire hesitated, thinking longingly about bed and forgetting about all this for a while, but Shane just looked so alone.**

**She went and settled in next to him. She didn't say anything and neither did he, and after a while his arm went around her and that was all right." ** I smiled at the memory waking up to Claire was a dream to me and I love her all the same as I did back then it just took me too long to figure that out.

"**She fell asleep there, braced against his warm body.**

**It was nice.**

**Claire supposed that she should have known Shane might have nightmares bad ones but she'd never really thought about it. When Shane jerked and rolled off the couch, she thumped flat onto the cushions. The TV was still one flickering confusion of colour and Claire flailed and scrambled for some grasp of what was going on through the fog of interrupted sleep.**

**Shane?**

**He was on his side on the floor, shuddering, curled up into a ball. Claire slid down next to him and put her hands on his broad back. Under the thin T-shirt his skin was clammy, and his muscles were as tense as steel cable. He was making these sounds, agonizing gasps that weren't quite sobs but weren't quite not, either.**

**She didn't know what to do. She felt helpless a lot in the past few hours, but this was worse, somehow, because Michael and Eve were nowhere to be seen, and she wasn't sure if Shane would have wanted them to see him like this. Or if he wanted her to see him like this. Shane was all about the pride." **

"That's a good thing got to have pride," dad said he like me had lots of pride and I agreed having so pride was everything to a man even Michael.

"**I'm okay," he gasped out.**

"**I'm okay. I'm okay." He didn't sound okay. He sounded scared, and he sounded like a little boy."**

"Thanks that's what you want to hear." I muttered.

"**He managed to sit up. Claire wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tight, and after a few seconds of resistance she felt him sag against her, and hug her back. His hand stroked her hair as if she might break. "Shhh," she whispered to him, the way her mother had whispered it to her when things got bad." **

"I did along with my other children but I don't think that's me she is talking about but still it's the same thing." Claire's mom said to us, Claire's brothers and sisters all agreed including Chelsea.

"**You're here. You're safe. You're okay." Because wherever had been in his dreams, he hadn't been any of those three things.**

**If she expected him to talk about it, she was disappointed. He pulled back, avoided looking at her, and said, "You should go to bed."**

"**Yeah," she agreed. "You first."**

"**Can't sleep." Didn't want to, more likely; his eyes were red and blurred with exhaustion. "I just need some coffee or something."**

"**Coke?"**

"**Whatever."**

**She fetched it for him, and Shane downed it like a frat boy at a mixer, belched, and shrugged an apology. "Where's Michael?" She spread her hands. "Eve?" She did another silent pantomime of ignorance. "Well, at least somebody's getting a good night's sleep. They together?"**

**Claire blinked. "I don't know." She hadn't thought about it, actually. She hadn't seen them go, didn't know if they'd gone to separate rooms or if Eve had finally worked up the courage to proposition Michael. Cause had never made the first move. That just wasn't Michael, somehow.**

"**Christ, I hope so," Shane said. "They deserve a little fun, even in hell." He was kidding, but not. He did see Morganville as hell. Claire had to admit, he had a point. It was hell, and they were the lost souls, and it was coming on toward morning and shed been scared for what felt like a very, very long time.**

**He was watching her closely, in a way that made her feel warmth all over her skin, like light sunburn.**

"**How about us?" She heard herself ask. "Don't we deserve a little fun?"**

"I cannot believe Claire said that she always seemed to shy for that," Eve said laughing I nodded but I knew it was because she was tired.

"That sounds like Cruz to us she was always like that," her sister Catlin said she smiled like that was a good thing but Claire was always like that now most of the time.

"**I did not just say that.**

**Only she had."**

Least she knew it was a mistake to say it that was the Claire we knew.

"**He smiled. She wondered if the shadows were ever going to leave his eyes again. "I could do something fun."**

"**Ummm" She licked her lips. "Define fun."**

"**Quit doing that, jailbait. It's distracting."**

"Jailbait she's older than you you're the jailbait not my little sister." Her sister Celyn she laughed it was true now but back then she was younger than me.

"**The whole idea that somebody would even think of her as jailbait was tremendously exciting.**

**Especially Shane. She tried to hide that, and act like she wasn't quaking on the inside like a Jell-O fruit salad. "So now you want me to stay up? I thought you said I should go to bed."**

"**You should." He didn't put any particular emphasis on it. "Cause if you stay down here, there's going to be fun. I'm just saying."**

"**Video game fun?"**

**His eyes widened. "You want to play video games?"**

"**Do you?"**

"**You are the weirdest girl."**

"**Please. You live with Eve." She was not doing this right. How did girls seduce boys?" **

"She wrote the book on that her and Cadence sure did the big flirts," her sister Celyn said again she was really annoying me now saying how much of a flirt Claire was she wasn't like that now the past is the past no need to drag it up now.

"**What did they say? Because she was pretty sure that talking about video games and bringing up roommates wasn't in the have-fun game plan. She was hyperaware of her body, too. How was she supposed to move? She felt awkward, all angles, and she wanted to be one of those graceful girls, all delicacy and elegance. Like in the movies.**

**Eve would know.**

**She had those garter hose on, and those thong panties and Claire didn't even own those things, or have any idea how to get them.**

**And Eve had worn them for Michael, or maybe just as a secret little excitement for herself around Michael. Yeah, Eve would know what to say." **

"Of course I know what to say I'm me," Eve said we laughed at that because in high school no boy but Michael really looked at her but now most because of the ways she wears her clothes boys do notice her.

"**Say something sexy, she commanded herself, and in a blind panic, she opened her mouth and blurted, "do you think they're doing it?" She was so appalled that she clapped both hands over her mouth."**

"Oh my god she really said that that's amazing she really said that to you are CB said that to you Shane Collins wow never knew she had it in her," Eve burst out laughing in was funny completely funny.

"**She'd never in her life wanted to take back words so much, and so fast and for a second, Shane just looked at her, like he couldn't figure out what she was talking about.**

**And then he laughed. "Man, I hope. Those two could use a good uh He blinked and she saw her age flash in front of his eyes. Hell. Never mind."**

**Words weren't working for her. She leaned forward and kissed him.**

**It felt weird, and awkward, and he didn't immediately respond maybe he was too surprised. Maybe she was doing it wrong,"**

"How can you get kissing wrong?" Eve asked she looked at me I just shrugged my shoulders at them.

"**Or she'd been wrong to make the move on him.**

**His lips parted under hers, damp and soft and warm, and she forgot all of that. Her entire life focused in on the sensations, the gentle pressure that grew more intense the longer the kiss went on.**

**Chaste kisses, then dirtier ones, and man, those tasted good.**

**They tasted better the wider her mouth opened, and especially after his tongue touched hers.**

**She could have done a whole semester of kissing with Shane. Intense personal study. With lab classes." **

"She really has got a strange mind hasn't she," Michael said I laughed at that.

"You have no idea, man." I replied.

"**Time really wasn't happening for her, but eventually Claire realized that there was a soft glow coming from the windows, and she was numb and sore from sitting on the floor. She winced as a muscle in her back protested, and Shane reached out, pulled her up, and settled himself on the couch.**

**He stretched out, and extended a hand to her. She stared, tingling and confused. "There's no room."**

"**Plenty of room," he said.**

**She felt breathless and kind of wild, stretching out on the tiny area of sofa cushion available next to him, and then smothered a yelp as Shane picked her up and draped her over his chest and, oh my God, over all the rest of him, too.**

"**Better?" he asked, and raised his eyebrows. It was a real question, and he was looking for a real answer. Claire felt a blush building a fire in her cheeks, but she didn't look away from his gaze.**

"**Perfect," she said.**

**It felt like being naked, except for all the clothes. The kisses this time were wet and urgent and deep,**

**And the feeling of Shane's muscles tensing and relaxing under her was incredibly exciting. This should be illegal, she thought. Well, it was kind of illegal. Or would be, if any clothes came off." **

"In my head I really wished we could of but that stupid rule is ridiculous but if I had known that she were older it would have happened," I mumbled to myself.

"**Shane might not have been Michael, with all the responsibility, but he definitely wasn't that impulsive. At least, not with her. His hands roamed, but never to places where she wanted them to badly and some of the places they roamed made her wonder why she never wanted someone to touch her there before.**

**Like the small of her back, where the skin dipped into a shallow valley. Or the back of her neck. Or the inside of her arms. Or…**

**As he was bringing his hands up her sides, his fingers just barely brushed the outer curve of her breasts, and she gasped into his mouth.**

**Shane immediately sat her upright, and moved to the other end of the couch. His face was flushed; his eyes were bright and no longer looked even a little bit tired. No, he said, and held out his hand like a traffic cop when she tried to scoot closer. "Red flag. If you make that sound again, we are in trouble. Or I am, anyway."**

**But Claire felt that blush creeping in again, and had no idea what it was going to be like to put this into words. "What about you?" You know she made a vague gesture that could have been anything. Or nothing. Or anything.**

"**Don't worry about me. I needed this." He was still breathing deeply, but he did look better. Steadier. More like Shane, instead of that lost and hurt little boy terrified of his nightmares. "So? Did we have fun?"**

"**Fun," she agreed faintly. So much fun she felt like a fizzed-up soda, ready to burst. "Um, I need to…"**

"**Yeah, me, too." But Shane made no move to go. Claire swallowed hard and took the course of the better part of valour, up the stairs to her room. She shut the door and locked it, threw herself on her brand-new mattress she hadn't even put sheets on it yet, and they were a little light on blankets after using most of them to fight the fire and bounced. The room smelled like a wet smoky dog, but she didn't care.**

**Not at all.**

**Fun.**

**Oh yes." **Carrie finished the book she put it down on the coffee table then ran up the stairs I knew where she was going without asking, she was going to see Claire I ran with her up the stairs to mine and Claire's room her brother Cayden was there with an awake Claire she smiled at me as I entered she was hugging Carrie whom had tears escaping down her cheeks.

"So did you have fun reading the chapter?" she asked me I walked over to her slowly I sat by her lag smiling at her.

"Yeah it was fun it was about when we had that little kiss on the couch," As I mentioned that she started blushing red I laughed at this. "Thank you Claire," I said to her as I kissed her on her forehead.

_**The end**_


	27. Happier

_**Book: Dead Girls Dance Chapter eight**_

_**Chapter twenty-five **_

_**Michael's pov: **_

Claire was better almost she needed help she finally got to meet Shane's sister and mother they seemed to get along really well too they talked a lot about things mostly Shane they laughed and Frank apologized to her about how he had acted to her when they had first met and other times she forgave him even though he may not have deserved it but it was a new start for them all again.

We were waiting for someone to pick up the book then Myrnin picked it up mumbling about something really stupid I have no idea what he was on about.

"**Around noon, Claire heard the doorbell, and ran downstairs. Shane was lying on the couch, sound asleep. Still no sign of Eve, and she didn't expect to have any Michael sightings, given the daylight hours. She raced down the hall to the door, which was braced with a wooden chair as a temporary lock, and hesitated. **

"**Michael? You there?" A chilly breeze swept across her, ruffling her hair. Wow. He was strong today. "Can I open the door? One for yes, two for no."**

**Apparently, yes. She pulled the chair away and peered outside. There were two men standing on the porch, both tall; one was lean and hard-looking, with black hair; the other one was a little pale (but not vamp pale) and heavyset, and where he wasn't balding, his very short hair looked brown. **

**They both displayed badges. Police. **

"**You're Claire, right?" The lean one said, and extended his hand. "Joe Hess. This is my partner, Travis Lowe. How you doing?"**

"**Um," she fumbled for the handshake. "Fine, I guess." Lowe also shook her hand. "Is something I mean, did you find?" Because she both hoped that Shanes dad was in a holding cell,"**

"Sorry about that Mr Collins it's just I didn't want Shane to get into any trouble," Claire explained to Mr Collins he nodded his head.

"That's okay Claire really I understand completely," Mr Collins said he seemed calm that was the strange thing. But all the same that was okay I guess. Myrnin seemed hurt that Claire had interrupted his from reading but he kept reading on anyway.

"**And was afraid of what that would mean for Shane. She rocked nervously back and forth on her heels, her eyes darting from one of them to the other. **

**Joe Hess smiled. Unlike most smiles she'd seen since coming to Morganville, this one seemed uncomplicated. Clean, sort of. Not happy, because that would have been weird, but comforting. "It's okay," he said. "No, we haven't found them, but you've got nothing to be afraid of. May we come inside?"**

**She heard shuffling footsteps behind her. Shane had woken up, and was standing in the hallway, barefoot and rumpled, with a fierce bed-head that got worse as he yawned and ran fingers through his hair, standing part of it on end. **

**How sick was it that she found that sexy?" **

"Cruz really?" her mother said Alyssa, Mrs Collins and Mr Collins looked at little confused at first then remembered that Claire had another name beforehand well she had many more other names beforehand.

"**Claire collected herself and pointed at the cops on the doorstep. Shane's eyes focused fast. **

"**Officers," he said, and came toward the door. "Anything you need?"**

"**I was just asking if we can come in and talk," Detective Hess said. He'd stopped smiling, but he still looked kind. Informally. **

**A chill moved softly over Claire's skin. A single wave of chill. Yes. Michael was okay with it. **

"**Sure," Claire said, and stepped back to swing the door wider. The cops stepped over the threshold, Hess first, then Lowe, and Shane shot Claire a look she couldn't quite figure out and led the men back to the living room. **

**Lowe studied the place more than the two of them; he seemed to really appreciate it. "Nice," he murmured, which was the first thing he'd said. "Great use of wood in here. Real organic."**

**She couldn't really say thank you, because, hey, she didn't build it. She didn't even own it. But on Michaels behalf she said, "we think so, too, sir." Claire settled nervously back on the sofa, perched on the edge. Shane remained standing, and Hess and Lowe moved around, not exactly searching, but cataloguing everything."**

"How can you read people so well?" I asked Claire everyone else seemed thankful that I had asked that she seemed to looked uncomfortable about it for a second but it wasn't for the question her wrists were still hurting her from the magic she had used yesterday.

"Well I don't know I just can by the way they seem it's just a gift I guess," she answered it was a fair answer.

"**Hess stayed focused on the two of them, and after a moment, he bent his knees and sat down in the chair that Michael had occupied last night. Déjà vu, Claire thought. Hess seemed to shiver a little, and he looked up, maybe trying to locate the source of the draft that had just brushed past him. **

**Michael liked that chair." **

"It's a good chair Claire what can I say," I said smugly I was also sitting in the chair right as I said this.

"**You had some trouble here last night," Hess said. "I know you had a talk with our colleagues" Gretchen and Hans. "I read the report this morning."**

**No harm in admitting to that. Both Shane and Claire nodded. **

"**A little scary, huh?"**

"Not as much as Eve in the mornings," Shane commented we all laughed but Eve looked hurt by this.

"Sorry I have to side with Eve that would be my mom when she wakes up," Claire said her mom started blushing all of Claire's siblings started laughing along with her it became contagious as everyone started laughing as well.

"**Claire nodded. Shane didn't. He gave the detective a narrow little smile. "I'm a Morganville lifer. Define scary," he said. "Anyway, if you're playing good cop, bad cop"**

"**I'm not," Hess said. "Trust me, you'd know if I was, because I'd be the bad cop." And there was something in his eyes that oddly made Claire believe it."**

"I know I can read people so well what can I say it's a gift as I've said countless times," Claire said before Eve could open her mouth to say anything.

"**Look, I won't lie to you. Gretchen and Hans, they've got their own agendas. But so do we. We want to make sure you're protected, understand me? Thats our job. We serve and protect, and Travis and I believe in that."**

**Lowe paused in his slow amble to nod. **

"**Were neutral. There's a few of us in town who did enough good for each side to earn a little freedom, as long as were careful." **

"**What Joe means," Detective Lowe said, "is that they ignore us as long as we keep it on our side of the tracks. Humans are the slave race here forget about skin colour. So we have to take care of our own when we can."**

"**And when we can't," Hess said, as smoothly as if they'd rehearsed all this, "things get ugly. It ain't like the two of us are free agents. Were Switzerland. If you cross the line, you're on your own."**

**Shane frowned at him. "What can you do for us, if you're Switzerland?"**

"**I can make sure that Gretchen and Hans don't make any follow-up visits," Hess said. I can keep most of the cops away from you, maybe not all. I can put out the word widely that you're not just under a Founders seal; Travis and I are keeping an eye on you. That'll keep anybody else from trying to win friends by smacking you around."**

"**Anybody human," he means, Lowe amended. "The vamps, they'll scare the shit out of you if they can, but they won't hurt you. Not unless you screw up and that Founders seal goes away. Got me?"**

**Which had already happened, really. The screwing-up part. Well, technically, she supposed Shane's dad hadn't broken any laws yet because Michael hadn't really died. **

**Except that he had. **

**God, Morganville made her head hurt."**

"I think it makes everyone's head hurt," Claire's twin sister Chelsea said laughing.

"True!" everyone shouted.

"**A door slammed upstairs, and Eve came clattering down the stairs, fully dressed in Goth finery: a purple sheer shirt over a black corset thingie, a skirt that looked like it had gotten caught in a shredder, hose with skulls woven in, and her black Mary Janes. Very fierce. Her makeup was back in full force, ice white face, black-rimmed eyes, lips like three-day-old bruises. **

"**Officer Joe!" Eve practically flew across the room to hug him. Shane and Claire exchanged a look. Yeah, this wasn't something they were going to see every day."**

"What's that suppose to mean?" Eve asked again Claire and Shane shared a look, then pointed to Eve.

"Well your Goth," was their answer.

"**Joe, Joe, Joe! I've been wondering where you were!"**

"**Hi, Skippy. You remember Travis, right?"**

"**Big T!" Another hug. This, Claire thought, had tipped over the edge into the surreal, even for Morganville. "I'm so glad to see you guys!"**

"**Ditto, kid," Lowe said. He was smiling, and it transformed his face into something that was almost angelic. "You've still got the numbers, right?"**

**Eve slapped her hand on the mobile phone strapped to her belt in a coffin-shaped holder. "Oh yeah. Speed dial. But there hasn't been um…" **

**Claire had the sudden weird feeling that Eve had something she couldn't talk about in front of them. The cops seemed to think so, too, because their eyes met briefly, and then Hess said, "You want an update? How about showing us to your coffeepot?"**

"**Sure!" Eve said brightly, and led them off into the kitchen. **

"**Well," Shane said as the door shut behind them, that's bizarre. **

"**Did I miss a chapter?" Claire asked. "And are there Cliffs Notes?"**

"**No idea."**

**The sound of conversation drifted in from the kitchen, music without words. Claire fidgeted, then got up and tiptoed over. **

"**Hey!" Shane protested,"**

"Thank you Shane," Eve said but the look on Shane's face said otherwise so Myrnin continued reading.

"**But he followed."**

"You what!" Eve shouted it seemed to deafen me, as she shouted.

"**Hess was talking about somebody named Jason. Shane reacted, putting his hand on Claire's shoulder and lifting his finger to his lips. **

"**What?" She mouthed silently. **

"**I want to hear."**

**Detective Lowe was talking. "You probably would want to know that he's getting out today. Now, before you say anything, he's been warned. He's not about to go near you or your parents. He'll be monitored." **

"**Monitored." Eve sounded shaken. "But I thought he was going to be in jail for a long time! What about that girl?"**

"**She withdrew the complaint," Hess said. "We couldn't keep him locked up forever, honey. I'm sorry." **

"**But he's guilty!"**

"**I know. But now it's your word against his, and you know how that gets decided. You're not sworn to anybody, Eve. He is."**

**Eve cursed. It sounded like she was trying not to cry. "Does he know where I am?"**

"**He'll find out," Hess said. "But like I said, he's being monitored, and well keep an eye on all of you kids here. You leave Jason alone, he'll leave you alone. Okay?"**

**If Eve agreed, she did it silently. Claire nearly tipped backward as Shane tugged on her shoulder; then she caught her balance and followed him back to the couch. "Who's Jason?" She couldn't even wait until they were seated to ask." **

"You two are just unbelievable you could have asked me all of this not eavesdrop." Eve said she didn't sound hurt but both Claire and Shane said they were sorry.

"**Crap," he sighed. "Jason's her brother. Last I heard, he was in jail for stabbing somebody. He's kind of a psycho, and Eve turned him in. No wonder she's freaked." **

"**Her older brother?" Because Claire was picturing some Gothed-out muscular football type about ten feet tall, with a steroid habit." **

"Not a chance," Eve said laughing.

"**Younger," Shane said. "Seventeen, I guess. Skinny, creepy kid. I never liked him. **

**Do you think?"**

"**What?"**

"**Do you think he'll come here? Try to hurt Eve?"**

**Shane shrugged. "If he does, he'll be regretting it all the way to the hospital." He said it in a matter-of-fact kind of way that made Claire feel strangely warm. She fought to catch her breath. If Shane noticed, he didn't show it. "As long as we stay here, were safe." He looked up at the blank ceiling. "Right, Michael?"**

**A chill drifted over Claire's skin. "Right," she said, on Michael's behalf. **

**But she wondered." **Myrnin finished the chapter Claire, Eve, Alyssa and Molly (Shane's mom) went off into the kitchen to cook all of the some food I remembered that Molly was good with cooking everyone seems to feel much better now.

_The end_


	28. Aurthor's note

**Sorry I haven't updated any of my stories in so long but I will be I haven't had many ideas for my fan fictions but I will be doing some of them soon with my Exam's coming up but once the half term starts I'll be right back to give you the stories I'm promising you. **


	29. Neighbours

_**Book: Dead Girls Dance Chapter nine**_

_**Chapter twenty-six **_

_**Molly's Pov: (Shane's mom) **_

I was very happy for Shane he seemed over the moon to have someone like Claire she seemed very kind and he even had a daughter he named her after Alyssa and it was all Claire's idea. They were happy together and I was happy for them I knew that Alyssa and Frank were happy for him too. I'm glad to be back and see my family again and I'm glad that everything in Morganville has changed for the better. But the things I've heard about what happened after I was gone with Frank scared me but he had apologised a million times to everyone we are having a new house in a Founders home which I was happy for I met Claire's very big family I may have learnt that Claire was a werewolf but Shane is too and so is Carrie but I'm happy for them Claire brought us all back to make my son happy she's amazing.

I was brought out of my thoughts when Eve screamed as she's picked up the trap without oven gloves on she burned her hand but Claire calmed her down taking her to get her hair bandage around. We had finished making the dinner for everyone I had made everything possible I didn't know if the vampires wanted anything so Claire had sorted.

We went out to the living room with everyone we put the food on the coffee table I sat with Frank next to Alyssa, we all started eating Claire feed some food to Shane making Carrie and Alyssa laugh when Shane got the food around his face everyone else laughed once they saw it I had to say it was funny. We soon finished the food and started reading the book it was my turn I felt everyone quietened down as I started reading.

"_**The cops left, Shane played some video games, and Claire studied. It was a normal kind of day, all things considered. Shane had the TV on, looking for any news that might show a clue as to what his dad was up to, but Morganville's local station (it had only one) seemed bland, vanilla, and content-free even on the newscast."**_

"That's the way they like it because this town has it's own horror show," Frank said under his breath he realised most of us could hear him he gave an apologetic smile then I continued reading what Claire had thought.

"_**The night came; Michael drifted back into human form; they had dinner.**_

_**Normal life, such as it passed for in a place like Morganville. In the Glass House.**_

_**It was only at midnight, when Claire was drifting off to sleep to the distant, sweet sound of Michaels guitar, that she started wondering about what she was going to do in the morning. She couldn't just hide, no matter what Michael thought. She had a life sort of and shed already missed enough classes this semester. It was go or withdraw, and withdrawing would make things worse. She'd never get her academic life together and go on to the Ivy League schools she was dreaming about.**_

_**She fell asleep thinking of vampires, fangs, pretty girls with mean smiles and cigarette lighters. Of fires and screaming. Of Shanes mom floating in the bathtub. **_

_**Of Shane, huddled in a corner, crying."**_

"Claire you should of told me about that," Shane said hugging Claire she smiled at him kindly.

"I didn't want to worry about it anyway that's in the pass your stronger and you've got your sister and mother back." Claire replied she was right and I was glad for that.

"_**Not a great night. She woke up at first light, wondering if Michael was already gone again, and yawned and struggled her way out of bed and to the bathroom. Nobody else was up, of course. The shower felt good, and by the time shed dried her hair and pulled on a plain white shirt and blue jeans and sneakers, and loaded up her backpack with the daily essentials, she felt ready to face the outside world.**_

_**Shane was asleep on the couch downstairs. She tiptoed past him, but a squeaky floorboard made it a useless exercise;" **_

"Seriously why did you have a death wish?" Michael asked Claire, from what I had already heard this was a death wish for Claire but she was still alive so that was something.

"I really wish I hadn't gone out but I'm proud of what I said to that bitch." She seemed happy about that I wanted to know what she was talking about but then again I guess it would be in the book later on in the chapter.

"Mum you swear," Carrie said she didn't seem happy about Claire swearing but Claire apologised for that and I kept on reading.

"_**He came bolt upright and stared at her with wild, uncomprehending eyes for a few seconds before he blinked and sighed. "Claire." He swung his legs off, sat up, and rested his head on the palms of his hands. "Ow. Man, remind me that two hours of sleep doesn't really cut it."**_

"I think you reminded yourself," Eve said to Shane sarcastically

"Don't start with me Gothic queen mom just read the rest of the chapter please." Shane said nicely to me anyway.

"_**I think you just reminded yourself. What were you doing up?"**_

Claire and Eve high five laughing together they seemed happy about how close they were which I was glad Eve never really had a good time in high school because of the way she looked Claire didn't seem to mind about that.

"_**Talking," he said. "Michael needed to talk."**_

_**Oh. Guy stuff. Stuff Michael hadn't wanted to share with the girls. Okay, fine, not her business. Claire hitched up her backpack and edged toward the hallway. **_

"_**Where are you going"? Shane asked without lifting his head."**_

"How did you know I was leaving?" Claire asked Shane he smiled then touched his nose saying it was a secret I just shook my head lightly and continued reading.

"_**You know where I'm going."**_

"_**Oh no, you're not!"**_

"_**Shane, I'm going. Sorry, but you don't get to tell me what to do." Technically, she supposed he could; he was older," **_

"We all know that is rubbish," Claire's mother said she seemed happy that her daughter was older but at the time she hadn't been really but that didn't matter to me.

"_**And in Michael's absence he was sort of the owner and operator of the house.**_

_**But no. Not even then. Once she started letting that happen or happen again she'd lose whatever independence she'd earned. "I have to go to class. Look, I'll be fine. Amelie's Protections still good, and the campus is neutral ground, you know that. Unless I screw up, I'll be okay."**_

"_**It's not neutral ground for Monica," he said, and looked up. "She tried to kill you, Claire."**_

_**True. Claire gulped down a hard little bubble of fear. "I can handle Monica." She didn't think she could, but at least she could avoid her. Running was always an option."**_

"IT's always an option around here," Eve said she seemed sad about that but overall no one said anything else so to break the silence I started reading again.

"_**Shane stared at her with bloodshot, tired eyes for a few long seconds, then shook his head and flopped back against the couch cushions, arms spread wide. "Whatever," he said. "Call if you get into trouble."**_

_**Something in his tone made Claire want to shed the backpack and crawl up on the couch next to him, cuddling close," **_

"That sounds really good why didn't you do it?" Shane asked Claire quietly but enough to let everyone hear them.

"Because I had school I needed to go but we can tonight if you want?" Claire asked she smiled making Shane smile I hadn't seen him really smile since before Alyssa was killed but we were all back and he was happy again so was everyone.

"_**But she straightened her spine and said, "I will," and marched to the door.**_

_**Two hard, fast chills swept over her. Michael, telling her a firm no.**_

"_**Bite me," she said, shot the brand-new locks that Shane had installed, and exited into the warm Texas morning sun.**_

_**English class was boring," **_

"You could of missed that if you'd stayed with me all day," Shane said to Claire she looked at him then back at the floor. There was something she wasn't telling.

"_**And she'd already read through everything in the curriculum, so Claire spent her time writing out her thoughts in the back of her journal. A lot of them centred on Shane, and Shane's lips, and Shanes hands. And curses on the fact that she wasn't eighteen yet, and that it was a stupid rule anyway.**_

_**She was still thinking about the injustice of all that after class, when she ran into trouble.**_

_**Literally.**_

_**Claire turned the corner, head down, and collided with a tall, firm body that instantly grabbed her by the shoulders and shoved her, hard, backward. Claire nearly lost her balance, but skidded to a shaky and upright halt, bracing herself against the wall. "Hey!"**_

_**She yelled, more in shock than anger, and then her brain caught up with her eyes and she thought, Oh, crap.**_

_**It was Monica."**_

"You ran into Monica I knew it that's why you were scared when you got home after that and you didn't tell me?" Shane asked her more like shouted but Claire just looked at him then at Carrie.

"Shane the reason I didn't tell you was because there was nothing to tell and that wasn't the reason I was scared that day honestly I swear I've hardly ever lied to you, you just didn't need to beat the crap out of Monica for something stupid." Claire reasoned it seemed to work because Shane calmed down a little more then I kept on reading.

"_**Monica Morrell looked polished and perfect, from her shining straight hair to her flawless makeup to the cute, trendy sheer top over baby doll T she was wearing. No backpack for Monica. She had a designer bag, and she looked Claire up and down, glossed lips twisting in disdain. Of course, she wasn't alone. Monica never went anywhere without an entourage, and today it was her usual wing girls, Jennifer and Gina, as well as a hovering flock of hard-bodied boys, most of them athletes of some kind or other.**_

_**Everybody was taller than Claire."**_

"And that's still true," Myrnin said he seemed happy about that but I think that was always his way.

"_**Watch it, freak!" Monica said, and glared at her. And then started to smile. It didn't lessen the menace in her pretty eyes. "Oh, it's you. You ought to watch where you're going." She half turned to her little gaggle of followers. "Poor Claire. She's got a syndrome or something. Falls down stairs, hits her head, nearly burns down her house." She focused back on Claire as Jennifer and Gina giggled. "Isn't that right? Didn't your house burn?"**_

"_**Little bit," Claire said. She was shaking, deep down, but she knew that if she backed down, she risked a lot worse. "But I heard it's not the first time that's happened when you stop by for a visit."**_

"You owned that bitch she really annoys me sometimes I just wish she'd grow up," Eve said she seemed happy that Claire had stuck up to Monica I had never liked that girl.

"_**Monica's clique made a low ooooooooooh sound, a no-she-didn't murmur evenly split between appreciation and anticipation. Monica's eyes turned cold. -Er.**_

"_**Don't even go there, freak. Not my fault you live with a bunch of losers and jerks. Probably that Goth whore lighting candles all over the place. She's a walking fire hazard, not to mention a fashion disaster."**_

_**Claire bit the inside of her lip and swallowed her reply, which would have had to do with who the real whore was in the conversation. She just raised her own eyebrows well aware they weren't plucked, or perfect, or anything and smiled like she knew something Monica didn't.**_

"_**She's not the only one. Isn't that top from Wal-Mart? The Trailer Park collection?" She turned around to go as Monica's friends had again, this time with an edge of laughter. **_

_**Monica grabbed her by the backpack, yanking her off-balance. "Tell Shane I said hi," she said, her breath hot against Claire's ear. "Tell him I don't care who's put out the truce flag I'm going to get him, and you, and he's going to be sorry he ever screwed with me."**_

_**Claire pulled herself free from Monica's highly polished manicured grip and said, "He wouldn't screw you if you were the last girl on earth and it was survival of the species."**_

"Glad you knew me that well back then," Shane said he hugged Claire from behind kissing her neck me and Claire's mother cleared our throats they got the message to stop then I started reading again.

"_**She thought that Monica was going to scratch her eyes out with those perfectly manicured talons, and backed off fast. Monica, strangely, let her go. She was even smiling, a little, but it was a weird kind of smile, and it made Claire's stomach lurch when she looked back.**_

"_**Bye now," Monica said. "Freak."**_

_**Chem class was already under way when Claire breathlessly slid into an empty seat and unpacked her notebook and text. She kept an eye out for Monica, Gina, Jennifer, or any random chemicals being flung her way it had happened before but she didn't run into Monica there, or on her way to her next class, or the next. By mid-afternoon she was aching from the tension, but her heart rate was pretty normal, and she'd gotten back into the groove of listening for comprehension. Not that she wasn't way ahead in the classes she had a habit of reading the whole book at the beginning of the semester but it was always nice when professors dropped some titbit that wasn't in the book or the published notes. Even the classes she didn't much like seemed relatively interesting. History had a quiz, which she finished in five minutes and handed in, then escaped with a silent thumbs-up from the professor.**_

_**It was late afternoon when she exited into the quadrangle outside of the science building; the crowds of students had thinned, since a lot of people tried to finish classes early and get on with the all-important party schedule. Texas Prairie University wasn't exactly Harvard on the Plains; most of the students were here to prow through two years of required courses, then transfer out to a legitimate university. So it was Party till you puke, mostly.**_

_**It was funny as she looked around now, knowing what she knew about Morganville. She'd never realized what an insulated little world college was; shed be willing to bet that ninety present of the kids attending had no idea what the real score was in town, or ever would. TPU was like a wildlife park, and the students were the wildlife.**_

_**And sometimes, the herd got culled.**_

_**Claire shivered, looked around for any signs of lurking Monica's, and took off for home. It wasn't a long walk, but it took her over the nicely tended (though sun-seared) grounds and out into Morganville proper's business district which really wasn't. It was a sideshow for the students, all coffee shops (she wondered what poor fool Oliver had gotten to fill Eves empty barista apron) and bookstores and trendy clothing emporiums. Buildings sported school colours green and white and usually had STUDENT DISCOUNT signs fading in the windows.**_

_**There was a weedy-looking guy in black standing at the corner, watching her with burning dark eyes. He looked familiar, but she couldn't think why somebody from class, maybe? Scary, anyway. She wondered why he was staring at her. There were other girls on the street. Prettier ones."**_

"Anyone want to guess who that was?" Claire said she looked at everyone Michael was the first to answer.

"Was it Frank?" he asked Claire shook her head then Myrnin put his head up like a child it seemed sweet.

"Was it me?" he seemed sure of himself then Claire shook her head again then looked at Eve she seemed to understand.

"Was it Jason?" she seemed angry at the name of her younger brother.

"Yeah but that's not the worst of it so far." Claire said something didn't sound good about that.

"_**Claire walked faster. When she looked back, he wasn't there anymore. Was that better, or way creepier?**_

_**Walking even faster seemed like a great idea suddenly.**_

_**As Claire passed Common Grounds, the coffee shop, she glanced inside and saw someone she thought she recognized but what the hell would Shane's dad be doing here? In the middle of the day? He didn't exactly blend in with the college crowd, and every cop in town was shaking the trees for him, right?**_

_**But there he was. Granted, she'd gotten only a quick look, but how many Frank Collins look-alikes could there be in Morganville?" **_

"Why didn't you tell me you saw them?" Shane asked Claire she looked at Frank then at Shane.

"I didn't want you to get into trouble but of course you did you almost got killed and I had to go around town trying to get you out I even asked Amelie and Oliver for help that's how much I loved you back then so stop trying to make a big deal out of nothing please it's in the past and I did it for you to stop you from getting into more trouble than you already were." Claire explained it seemed fair on her part Shane saw that too, I couldn't believe Claire really cared that much of only knowing him such short time but she did and that's why she's an amazing girl.

"_**I should get the hell out of here, she thought, but then she wondered. If she could find out what he was doing, maybe that would help Michael and Shane with planning what to do next. Besides, it was the middle of the day, broad daylight, and it wasn't like Mr Collins didn't know where to find her if he wanted he knew where she lived, after all.**_

_**So Claire opened the door and slipped inside, hiding behind a couple of big jocks with bulky laptop-laden backpacks who were having some earnest conversation about whether baseball stats were legitimate during the steroid years, or had to be thrown out. Yes, that was Shane's dad, and he was sitting in the corner of the coffee bar, sipping from a cup. Plain as day.**_

_**What the hell?**_

_**She caught her breath as Oliver slipped into the seat opposite him. Oliver was a lanky guy, tall and a bit stooped, with long curling hair that was sprinkled and shot through with grey. Not very threatening, Oliver, until you saw the fangs and the real personality lurking underneath what he put on for the public. Oliver was terrifying, and she had no desire at all to get into any position where she'd have to deal with him again.**_

_**Claire turned to go, and ran into a broad chest clad in a soft grey T-shirt. She looked up, and saw a guy she didn't recognize little older than Shane, maybe, but not much. He had soft, short red hair, and he was fair-skinned and freckled. Big blue eyes, the kind of blue that made her think of clear skies or deep oceans. He was just pretty. And kind of peaceful. **_

_**Big and solid, and wearing of all things, in this Texas late-summer heat wave an old, worn brown leather jacket. No backpack, but he looked like a student.**_

_**He smiled down at her. She expected him to step out of the way, but he didn't; instead, he reached down, took her hand, and said, "Hello, Claire. I'm Sam. Let's talk."**_

_**His fingers felt cool, like clay. And he was, under the freckles, a little too pale. And there was something fey and sad in his eyes, too.**_

_**Oh, crap. Vampire." **_ The chapter was finished which was good I put the book down looking outside to the night sky it was getting really late, the others realised this as well as Eve saw us all out as Shane and Claire took Carrie to bed and Michael cleaned up the place. As we got out the front door we crossed the street to our new house.

_**The end**_


	30. Aurthor note

**Sorry but I will not be continuing this story because I will be finishing my other story till then I'm sorry but you'll have to wait. **


End file.
